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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23699476">Tea at Five Twisted</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/LZielinsky/pseuds/LZClotho'>LZClotho (LZielinsky)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Twisted Tea [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Actor RPF, Boston Public, Star Trek: Voyager</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Cheating, Coming Out, Crossover, Denial of Feelings, Explicit Sexual Content, F/F, F/M, First Meetings, Heavy Angst, Mutual Pining, One Night Stands, RPF</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 18:35:09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>20,549</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23699476</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/LZielinsky/pseuds/LZClotho</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Ronnie Cook, a new teacher at Boston's Winslow High (Boston Public), takes her class to see "Tea at Five," the Matthew Lombardo play starring Kate Mulgrew as Katherine Hepburn, to support their literature unit. She and the leading lady find themselves incredibly attracted to one another which leads to a one-night stand that rocks both their worlds.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kate Mulgrew/Ronnie Cook (Boston Public)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Twisted Tea [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1706776</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Tea at Five Twisted</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/ariestess/gifts">A Magiluna Stormwriter (ariestess)</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This story has been squirreled away on my hard drive for 15+ years. I blame my courage to finally post these here (since AO3 has such good tagging) on <b>A Magiluna Stormwriter</b> who very kindly gifted me recently with the delightfully inspired "We Three Permanently" a meta of a meta of a couple TV shows using concepts underlying my novel "We Three."</p><p>This is the least meta of a set of stories that started as a "fever dream." See, Ronnie Cooke was a semi-regular role Jeri Ryan did on the series Boston Public. This was after her stint on Star Trek: Voyager. I had also read that "Tea at Five," the play starring Kate Mulgrew as Katharine Hepburn, played in Boston during the time that BP was shooting. I always thought Janeway and Seven had loads of sparks (wrote a bunch fics) so I thought what if...</p><p>Anyway, as far as reality goes, I'm pretty sure that Boston Public was totally shot on LA sound stages, but my fever brain, previously mentioned, would not let this idea of Kate/Ronnie go. So I wrote it down. And I kept writing. I shared bits of it privately. Got a lot of "OMG this is so wild" feedback. So it turned gradually into a 5-part series that witnesses Ronnie discovering she's bisexual while Kate discovers, well, she is truly in love with... Yeah. </p><p>This fic hasn't seen the light of day in 15+ years, so I'm nervous. If you're not into RPF, please don't read. If the idea of cheating, divorce, etc, are just things you can't read, please don't read this. Everyone else, I hope it's somewhat enjoyable.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><strong>Blast from the Past:</strong><br/><br/>Though I am posting this story in 2020 <em>(timestamp: during the social distancing lockdown of the COVID-19 pandemic)</em> this story was originally written in 2003. No significant edits have been made beyond cleaning up any really awkward phrasing or an embarrassing overuse of commas.</p><p><br/><strong>Content Disclaimers:</strong><br/><br/>This story is fiction. That said, some of the people herein named are real people. That means this is actor fic. If you don't like that idea, DO NOT READ THIS STORY.</p><p>This story features same-sex explicit action between consenting adult women. If you don't like that idea, DO NOT READ THIS STORY.</p><p>This story features cheating in a marriage. There are consequences, so I'm definitely not condoning such behavior, but if cheating is something you are comfortable reading, DO NOT READ THIS STORY.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p></p><div>
  <p> </p>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="big"> <span class="big"> Twisted Tea</span> </span>
  </p>
  <p> </p>
  <p></p>
  <div>
    <p> </p>
    <p></p>
    <div>
      <p>
        <span class="small"> original (c) 2003</span>
      </p>
      <p>
        <strong>Part 1</strong>
      </p>
    </div>
    <p>The theater lights dropped to intimate level. Stage lights slowly brightened, rising with the curtain for the second act of "Tea at Five." Ronnie Cook settled quietly into her seat, seventh row center, awaiting the arrival of the 83 year old central character.</p>
    <p>Only character actually. The one-woman show starring a reviving stage actress portrayed the life of grand movie dame Katharine Hepburn. Act One had the more familiar -- to Ronnie anyway -- young Hepburn, age 38. Kate Mulgrew's voice and manner had been evocative and strongly reminiscent of the great actress.</p>
    <p>The key light drew up, drawing a gasp from Ronnie and many near her, as it shone on a remarkable transformation. Kate Mulgrew stepped on stage hobbling with a cane and favoring her left foot. Her "welcome" to her guests for tea alerted Ronnie to the remarkable aging she had managed for the voice as well. Gone was the young drawl, replaced by a self-deprecating husky rasp.</p>
    <p>According to the program Mulgrew was in her mid-forties, but makeup and manner had magically transformed the vibrancy of middle years to the frail strength of later years with mesmerizing perfection.</p>
    <p>Ronnie absorbed the change with fascination grasping detail with her eyes and ears, hearing Hepburn's reflections on life, love and acting. Mulgrew's gaze constantly swept the audience, frequently capturing a gaze -- Ronnie flushed each time she felt the luminous eyes drift over her.</p>
    <p>The act closed and Ronnie's applause joined the rest. She had almost forgotten she was in a 250-seat auditorium. A fan of live theater, and frequent visitor to this Broadway-prep venue in Boston, Ronnie wondered why she had heard little of the actress before now. Her skill was truly special, to capture the enigma of Hepburn.</p>
    <p>Settling into the line of audience members filing past for autographs, Ronnie read the short biographical sketch provided in the program. Well, that explains it, she thought. The woman's last 7 years had been spent on television, starring in a science fiction series.</p>
    <p>A far cry from both theater and the magic of Hepburn's classical style, Ronnie thought. She wondered what made Mulgrew consider the project. Somewhere ahead of her someone asked that very question. Trying not to appear obvious, she listened to the answer:</p>
    <p>"Kismet," Kate replied.</p>
    <p><em>Kismet</em>. Fate. Eventually it was Ronnie's turn to stand forward. The stage was at height with her, and she found herself at eye level with Mulgrew, meeting gray-blue eyes. The actress resettled in against the wood surface in a casual foot-under-knee posture. Despite aging makeup still in place, the full vibrancy of the body beneath the frail appearance leaped out at Ronnie.</p>
    <p>"Enjoy yourself?" Mulgrew asked.</p>
    <p>Ronnie swallowed. "Yes. I did; very much."</p>
    <p>Mulgrew nodded, and looked at Ronnie's program copy in her hands. "Thank you for coming out tonight." Ronnie watched her hand with the ballpoint pen flow over the biographical page. "Voyager fan?"</p>
    <p>"No. A fan of good theater."</p>
    <p>That brought out a husky chuckle. "Thank you."</p>
    <p>"Thank you," Ronnie replied sincerely, as the program was returned. Mulgrew's gaze caught hers again and Ronnie flushed under the directness once again. She was making a suggestion before it even fully formed. "Would the theater offer a group rate for my English class?"</p>
    <p>Yes, she decided, I do want to come back. What better reason than to bring her class? Though rather than bring it up here with the actress, she should have simply gone to the box office and asked. Mulgrew seemed unfazed, eyes growing warm and her smile broadening further. She nodded. "Wait until the crowd clears and I'll talk with the management. We have to support arts education."</p>
    <p>Ronnie nodded, pleased by the opportunity to stay a little longer near the vibrant woman. There was something remarkable watching her interactions with the audience, some quite enamored and clearly following her from her television role, as they talked about her character, a "Captain Kathryn Janeway."</p>
    <p>I might just have to check out the reruns, she thought as yet another person remarked on how Mulgrew's characterization of Janeway "must have" prepared her for the demands of a one-woman show. Apparently Mulgrew carried the lion's share of the acting, despite it being an ensemble cast. Some of the "Tea at Five" audience had shared their comments on her TV costars. Not all of it charitable, but through it all, Mulgrew smiled, signed, and kept her own comments neutral. When asked if any of the Voyager cast had seen her yet, she replied, "A few."</p>
    <p>Now the audience was gone, except Ronnie, who had settled against the stage right wing wall, watching and listening. A gentleman of graying hair and rounded features, slipped out among the stagehands clearing the set props, and crouched next to Mulgrew. "Ready to go?" he asked.</p>
    <p>Ronnie did not expect Kate to remember her standing to the side. After quickly kissing the man, Kate put her fingers to his lips and gestured toward her. "After a bit. Is Russell still back there?"</p>
    <p>"Yes, I think so. He has to lock up the cash box."</p>
    <p>Mulgrew's gray-blue eyes, very blue now, leveled on Ronnie. "Come on. Let's see about getting your class some passes." Stepping cautiously forward, Ronnie looked up, and up, as the man behind Mulgrew rose to his full height. With the added height of the stage, he was suddenly very imposing, wearing a severe expression. "It's all right. I'll call the box office in the morning."</p>
    <p>"Nonsense. Tim, catch Russell, tell him I'm coming back."</p>
    <p>"All right." Tim turned and walked with long strides to the back of the stage.</p>
    <p>Mulgrew stood then and offered Ronnie a hand. "Come on."</p>
    <p>Slipping her hand into the other woman's, Ronnie moved quickly up the steps, finding herself on the stage beside Mulgrew, a true representation of their heights hitting her suddenly. From the audience Mulgrew had seemed huge. Even close, with the added height of the stage, Ronnie had thought her somewhat taller. But Ronnie, at 5'8" was half a head taller than Mulgrew. "Amazing," she murmured.</p>
    <p>Already starting to lead the way back, Mulgrew turned to look over her shoulder at Ronnie close by. She lifted her chin. "What?"</p>
    <p>"You have remarkable presence," Ronnie answered, positive that I didn't think you were so short would go over so well.</p>
    <p>Blue eyes twinkled as the small hand closed over Ronnie's again. "C'mon. Follow me."</p>
    <p>Anywhere you want, Ronnie's mind whispered as her body tried not to fall over itself in haste to follow Kate into the lower lit backstage corridor.</p>
    <p> </p>
    <p>
      <strong>Part 2</strong>
    </p>
    <p>It had turned out to be simple obtaining tickets to a Wednesday matinee showing of "Tea at Five", Ronnie thought climbing onto the reserved school bus behind the last of her students.</p>
    <p>Much more difficult had been convincing her students to read the Katharine Hepburn autobiography in preparation for today's performance. They hated reading and only the enticement of getting out early from school cajoled a portion of them into reading it at all. They had pinned her too, though, with questions, and she had to admit she had not read the text yet either.</p>
    <p>Now a week later she and 28 students had completed the book. Due to the school board's requirements Ronnie had needed one other teacher, or two parents to volunteer as additional chaperones. She looked now at Harvey Lipschultz. The American History teacher frowned and winced as students clamored noisily refusing to take their seats, and arguing over who should sit, or not sit, with whom.</p>
    <p>The aging portly man with the face like a bloodhound's had proclaimed, loudly, that he had seen every stage play in which Hepburn had performed, since her debut. Considering the actress was now retired at 96, it was unlikely that Harvey, despite being in his 60s, truly could have seen everything. But Ronnie appreciated the fact that she had not needed to cajole students' parents to make this trip possible. Her students' parents were notoriously undependable, save for a few who were working so hard to make ends meet that taking time off for a class trip would have been laughed at instantly.</p>
    <p>"Hey, Miss Cook?" A Latino male waved to grab her attention from the back seats.</p>
    <p>"Yes, Luis?"</p>
    <p>"When are we gettin' outta here?"</p>
    <p>She shrugged. "Sit down so I can do a headcount and we'll see."</p>
    <p>She had not raised her voice but the effect was instantaneous. Twenty-eight rear ends miraculously stopped playing musical chairs, every one finding a proper seat.</p>
    <p>Ronnie spared them the standard roll call, though she visually identified everyone and checked off each on her list. Grasping the support beam behind the driver she bent forward. "We're ready," she reported. "You know where we're going, right?"</p>
    <p>The black woman with a wide girth nodded. "Yep. Got a regular run for a primary school over that side of town."</p>
    <p>"Don't leave when we get there," Ronnie said, sitting down in the seat behind and to the driver's right. "I've got a ticket for you, and Ms. Mulgrew agreed to talk to us before the show."</p>
    <p>Students around her heard and she grinned privately at several, "Oh, cool!" and "No shit?" The ever optimistic, "Probably gonna quiz us," made her chuckle.</p>
    <p>"Nope," she answered the last. "I get that honor. After the show when we talk to her again."</p>
    <p>It had been Mulgrew's idea to meet before the show; Ronnie had been concerned about disturbing the actress's preparation time.</p>
    <p>As the bus's engine rumbled to life under her seat, Ronnie recalled the rumbly soothing sound of Mulgrew's laughter just before the actress had patted her on the knee. "I've done over a hundred performances, Ms. Cook. If I'm not prepared yet we're in real trouble."</p>
    <p>The words had been uttered in a conspiratorial whisper as the small redhead had leaned forward practically under Ronnie's chin. The whole incident still sent shivers down Ronnie's spine just in the memory.</p>
    <p>A tingle started in her stomach as she realized she was once again going to be under that sagacious and giving gaze very shortly.</p>
    <p>"Ms. Cook?"</p>
    <p>"Yes, Jeannie?" Ronnie turned to find one of her shyer students in the seat behind her.</p>
    <p>"You've already seen this play, right?"</p>
    <p>"Yes."</p>
    <p>"You thought it was good?"</p>
    <p>Ronnie nodded.</p>
    <p>"Better than the book?"</p>
    <p>"It presents..." Ronnie paused, searching for the best description. She finally settled on, "A different voice."</p>
    <p>Jeannie's brow furrowed in puzzlement but the girl sat back to ponder Ronnie's choice description.</p>
    <p>Ronnie corralled two students who had, upon leaping from the bus, ran straight for the bathrooms to make out. "I've seen this thing already," she pointed out to them. "I'll have no problem sitting on you two in detention if you try that again."</p>
    <p>"Please don't."</p>
    <p>Ronnie spun to find Mulgrew had woven her way through the gathered students to stand just off Ronnie's shoulder. "Ms. Mulgrew," she greeted, containing the squeak of surprise.</p>
    <p>Again their difference in height assailed Ronnie when Mulgrew tilted her chin so their eyes met. "Hello."</p>
    <p>Mulgrew looked around at the now curious students. "I'm glad you all could come."</p>
    <p>In the next instant, Ronnie found out exactly which of her students had been fans of Mulgrew's television stint. The actress's captivating voice had finally been recognized. Two girls and a boy immediately pushed forward, gasping exclamations that they were actually standing so close to an idol.</p>
    <p>Despite losing her personal space, Mulgrew shook hands with aplomb. Ronnie intervened mercifully, feeling protective. She laid a hand across those of the students, easing them back. "All right, ladies and gentlemen. Any questions before we go into the auditorium?" She offered an apologetic smile over her shoulder to Mulgrew who smiled back easily.</p>
    <p>"Did you meet Hepburn before doing this?" asked someone -- Ronnie identified Leroy Jackson with some surprise.</p>
    <p>"No, I haven't had the pleasure," Mulgrew replied honestly.</p>
    <p>"Do you wish you could?"</p>
    <p>"I think it would be lovely, but she's very reclusive."</p>
    <p>"Did she write the play?" Someone slapped someone else for that question. Ronnie tried to figure out who.</p>
    <p>Mulgrew however shook her head then surprised everyone by raising her right arm and waving at a distant figure. "No, no one in her family wrote it. Mr. Matthew Lombardo --" She reached out and grasped the arm of a slight mouse-ish man. "This man," Mulgrew emphasized then she switched voices -- and Ronnie recognized Hepburn's elder voice -- and finished, "Put all the words in my mouth."</p>
    <p>Many students went wide-eyed; Mulgrew smiled, obviously at ease capturing the center of attention.</p>
    <p>"Matt, why don't you sit with them?" Mulgrew closed finally, putting her hand, to the delight of Jeannie, on the girl's shoulder. "We'll regroup afterward. I'm sure you'll have more questions then."</p>
    <p>Groans of disappointment accompanied Mulgrew's departure. Ronnie stifled hers just barely, surprising herself with the depth of her emotion.</p>
    <p>"Shall we go inside?" Matt Lombardo said.</p>
    <p>Harvey grumbled, "Doesn't look a damn thing like her."</p>
    <p>Ronnie rolled her eyes then with reminders to be quiet, she herded the students to the two rows of central seats they had been assigned.</p>
    <p> </p>
    <p>
      <strong>Part 3</strong>
    </p>
    <p>Ronnie relaxed by intermission. As she had hoped, Mulgrew's talent captured enough of the students' attentions that they were policing themselves, shushing each other and truly watching the play.</p>
    <p>"Hepburn" stood from the couch and walked from the stage, Mulgrew's gaze grazing through the audience as she went. The curtain came down, the lights came up and the theater staff member crossed on the floor in front of the stage alerting the audience to the lobby's amenities.</p>
    <p>Mr. Lipschultz looked over to her from the far end of the row in front. She nodded as he gestured wanting to let the kids out. "Who needs a bathroom break?"</p>
    <p>"Ms. Cook?"</p>
    <p>Ronnie looked in front of her to see Natalie, the student she had helped obtain housing. "Yes, Natalie?"</p>
    <p>"Can we get something from the snack area?"</p>
    <p>That would split them up, Ronnie realized uneasily. At her side Matthew Lombardo, the play's writer and apparently their in-house coordinator appointed by Mulgrew, volunteered. "I'll watch the snack area."</p>
    <p>Ronnie nodded. "Thank you. All right. Mr. Lipschultz has the men's room. I'll watch the ladies' room. Mr. Lombardo has the snack area. Be quick. Intermission is only twenty minutes."</p>
    <p>The matinee performance was sparsely attended. Other than Ronnie's students maybe thirty other people were in the audience. While Ronnie had been organizing the lobby break, most of the patrons who had needed to use the restrooms had already left.</p>
    <p>Harvey took up a post outside the men's room door offering scowls to the students entering and leaving, arms crossed over his chest. His expression bore permanent disapproval. The boys ducked sheepishly away from him, taking care of their business quickly.</p>
    <p>Ronnie's post by the ladies' room was close enough to the snack area for her to give Lombardo support.</p>
    <p>"Your insight to Hepburn is amazing," she complimented, choosing small talk as they both scanned students' faces randomly. "What made you decide to connect these particular two periods?"</p>
    <p>He smiled and shrugged. "Thematically, the contrasting success and failure both inwardly and outwardly. And Mulgrew's appearance so easily switches between the two. Other stages, or stages closer together might not have gotten me one actress, or required more characters. I wanted an internal study, not an action play."</p>
    <p>"She does have an exceptionally expressive face," Ronnie commented.</p>
    <p>"First thing I noticed. Then I knew I could write the play and more of the subtextual aroma would come out with Kate playing Kate."</p>
    <p>"Was she interested at first?"</p>
    <p>"I had an in with a friend of hers," he said.</p>
    <p>"Ah," Ronnie smiled.</p>
    <p>"You've seen this once already, right?"</p>
    <p>"Three weeks ago."</p>
    <p>"How are your students doing with the material?"</p>
    <p>"I'll know better next week, after their test. But they have been caught up in it."</p>
    <p>Lombardo preened. Ushers appeared at the doors to the theater auditorium. "Time to go back in."</p>
    <p>Ronnie called the students together and pressed them to follow Mr. Lipschultz back to their seats Before she swept the bathrooms for stragglers she asked the history teacher, "How are you doing, Harvey?"</p>
    <p>"Seats could be more comfortable," he answered. She rolled her eyes, but he surprised her with his next assessment. "But that niece of Katharine's isn't a half bad imitator." He walked away before Ronnie could correct his information.</p>
    <p>Her bathroom sweep netted Randy Leitel mysteriously vomiting into the mens room toilet. She grabbed his shoulders, gently, but demanded, "What'd you take?"</p>
    <p>Weak as he was he couldn't protest her search of his pockets. She came up with a small unlabeled vial of miniature white pills. Blurry eyes winced when she asked sharply what the pills were. He grabbed for them; she pocketed the vial. Then she hauled Randy by the shoulder out to the lobby.</p>
    <p>An usher retrieved Harvey. Inside the auditorium Act Two was already underway and Mulgrew's voice, well aged and unexpectedly sultry, floated out to the lobby to Ronnie.</p>
    <p>Harvey looked bewildered as he approached the door. Ronnie backed up from watching Mulgrew wistfully, knowing her job would now take her attention away from the rest of the play. She explained what she had found and where, and Harvey's glare cowed Randy quickly. He told her he would watch Randy on the bus while waiting for the play's conclusion.</p>
    <p>Ronnie slipped eagerly into the darkened theater, finding Harvey's former seat at the end of the row and settled as quickly and quietly as possible. Focusing on Mulgrew who was currently crossing the stage at a slow hobble, Ronnie let herself sink back into the world of Katharine Hepburn.</p>
    <p> </p>
    <p>
      <strong>Part 4</strong>
    </p>
    <p>As she had the night Ronnie came to see the play, Mulgrew settled on the edge of the stage greeting the line of patrons filing past following the final curtain of the matinee performance. The actress smiled easily, posed for joint pictures, initialed Playbills, and listened intently to the older audience members reminiscing about Hepburn's aura. She accepted compliments with grace Ronnie envied. Then her students crowded around the petite woman curled up it seemed completely content with her lot.</p>
    <p>Mulgrew listened to the clamor of multiple voices with a smile that seemed amused, bemused, and not one whit confused. She addressed questions in turn, and Ronnie stayed back, letting them have their say without her interference.</p>
    <p>Natalie gushed, words tumbling over and over themselves out of her mouth, and Ronnie finally felt it was important to step forward. Several other students were becoming annoyed at being unable to get a word in edgewise.</p>
    <p>"Hey, Nat," Ronnie eased her out of the crowd. "Gotta let the others have a word or two." She glanced up at Mulgrew to offer apology only to find the other woman studying the back of Natalie's head indulgently.</p>
    <p>"Did you have trouble during the intermission?" Mulgrew suddenly asked Ronnie, forcing her to look up from escorting Natalie away.</p>
    <p>"Hmm?" Ronnie offered distracted surprise at being addressed.</p>
    <p>"I noticed you entered late," Mulgrew said.</p>
    <p>"I'm sorry it distracted you."</p>
    <p>"No problem for me," the actress shrugged. "One of your students?"</p>
    <p>Ronnie refused to name the student, embarrassing him when he wasn't present, so she simply nodded. "Got sick."</p>
    <p>"I'm sorry to hear that. Where is he now?"</p>
    <p>"With Mr. Lipschultz on the bus."</p>
    <p>"That gruff-looking man from the fourth row?"</p>
    <p>Ronnie nodded; Kate pursed her lips sympathetically. To the students she pondered, "Tough guy?"</p>
    <p>The students shook their heads. A few indicated with a circling gesture by their heads their general opinion that Lipschultz was crazy.</p>
    <p>The virtual unanimity apparently amused Mulgrew deeply. She laughed openly. Ronnie felt her stomach shift and she could not decide between apologizing for her students' behavior and joining in Mulgrew's mirth. The sound of Mulgrew's laughter was irresistibly infectious. When their gazes intersected, Ronnie realized the actress knew Ronnie was holding back. A delicate eyebrow arched and Ronnie had to let through her smile in answer.</p>
    <p>"We've lingered too long," Ronnie finally managed, noting the time.</p>
    <p>"No more questions?"</p>
    <p>"We have to meet their parents back at the school by six."</p>
    <p>"Oh." Mulgrew's shoulders rounded.</p>
    <p>"I'm sorry," Ronnie offered, surprisingly empathetic realizing Mulgrew had hoped for more time. She too wished to stay a little longer.</p>
    <p>However her students took precedence. In the awkward silence Mulgrew pursed her lips again, pulled her feet up onto the stage, preparing to stand.</p>
    <p>Ronnie made a quick decision. "Go to the bus." She picked Natalie to lead the return, giving her the clipboard with the students' names. "Mr. Lipschultz will take attendance."</p>
    <p>"Ms. Cook?" Natalie questioned.</p>
    <p><em>Not now</em>, Ronnie thought. Mulgrew was going to be out of sight in a matter of seconds. "I'll be right out," she promised.</p>
    <p>She reached for the side of the raised stage, an urge to vault in pursuit flowing through her. She caught the curious stares of several of her students and more decorously climbed the steps instead.</p>
    <p>She waited until the theater was empty before she went backstage in search of the star.</p>
    <p> </p>
    <p>
      <strong>Part 5</strong>
    </p>
    <p>The door was firmly closed when Ronnie found the small dressing room backstage. Unfamiliar with the trappings of a real stage -- cafeterias converted to auditoriums had nothing on a professional theater's maze of culverts, cables, and collections of boxes - she had tripped twice. Her elbow still throbbed from her encounter with a dressmaker's dummy.</p>
    <p>Starting to reach for the knob she found the door yanked open before she could touch it. She was not much taller but still Mulgrew had to tilt her head up to look into Ronnie's face.</p>
    <p>"What do you want?" Kate asked sharply, backing up defensively. Ronnie did the same.</p>
    <p>"I just wanted to apologize again." Well, not <em>just</em>, but Ronnie recognized it was best to start simple as she tried to put into words her emotionally riotous thoughts.</p>
    <p>"You're going to be late returning the students to school." Kate's tone was surprisingly brittle.</p>
    <p>Ronnie pulled her cell phone from its pouch on her belt. "I'll tell them to leave without me. It's important I talk to you."</p>
    <p>Kate looked up and down the narrow corridor. Ronnie realized she was probably hoping for some interruption as she heard her own voice again and realized she sounded somewhat mobbish and probably frightening. She took another step back to give Mulgrew her space.</p>
    <p>Tension flowed between them, but finally Mulgrew's dispelled on a quiet but definite exhalation.</p>
    <p>"I'm sorry. I must sound really bizarre to you," Ronnie prefaced, rewarded with another direct and curious expression. "I... just... I thought we parted... badly out there." Ronnie's stomach twisted uneasily under the continuing regard.</p>
    <p>She had never been subjected to quite so direct a gaze before. Defendants in courtrooms had tended to shy away from her generally. Her students almost never looked at her directly, for fear of being accused of insubordination. She found Mulgrew's ability to look at her directly refreshing, and compelling. Words of invitation were leaping to her lips before the thought could fully form in her mind.</p>
    <p>"Can I take you for coffee?" she asked in a rush.</p>
    <p>"What?" Mulgrew blinked. Ronnie felt her chest tighten at the brief vanishing of the woman's stormy blue eyes.</p>
    <p>"I'm going to send Lipschultz back with the students. Then," she inhaled, "I'd like to talk some more. Can we go for coffee?"</p>
    <p>Mulgrew's brow furrowed. The request completely floored her. She looked to consider it, stumbling visually between Ronnie's two eyes. "Are...? I... I can't." She looked away.</p>
    <p>Ronnie reached out her hand covering Kate's. The woman's eyes darted back to hers. "Please."</p>
    <p>Mulgrew's lips moved without sound. Ronnie willed her, using her own direct gaze, to accept. Normally blue eyes were now softening to a stormy gray; the sight did amazing things to Ronnie's equilibrium.</p>
    <p>She moved her thumb over the back of Kate's hand, soothing even as she felt the strong fingers flex in her light grip. She pressed on though when Kate did not pull away. "I have to send the bus off. I'll be back in five minutes."</p>
    <p>Before Kate could respond, Ronnie walked off hurriedly. Plans, which began with a mental map of the local neighborhood for a place to eat, drink, and talk swirled through Ronnie's mind almost wiping out her secondary thoughts of what to tell Lipschultz and the students.</p>
    <p>Kate leaned on her door jamb watching the long-legged blonde striding away. Her lips pursed. Rubbing the back of her hand and studying her fingers she found herself awaiting Ms. Cook's return.</p>
    <p> </p>
    <p>
      <strong>Part 6</strong>
    </p>
    <p>Ronnie heard the engine roaring to life as she leapt to the landing step of the school district's bus. "Ready t' go?" asked the bus driver.</p>
    <p>"I'm staying."</p>
    <p>"Ma'am?"</p>
    <p>"Something came up," Ronnie said briefly. Turning to Harvey she asked, "Do you want me to call ahead and have Scott meet you at Winslow?"</p>
    <p>"This is irregular," Lipschultz responded.</p>
    <p>"I know, Harvey. Please? I have something I have to do."</p>
    <p>"Will you be in school tomorrow, Ms. Cook?"</p>
    <p>"Of course, Natalie."</p>
    <p>Harvey's face puckered a though he had just eaten a persimmon. Ronnie dropped her chin and smiled winsomely. "Fine," he relented. "I'll take care of this."</p>
    <p>She relented her prayer instantly. "Thank you."</p>
    <p>"You owe me," he pointed out.</p>
    <p>"I know," she answered with a nod.</p>
    <p>"I'll call it in on something big."</p>
    <p>Ronnie signed. "I know you will." She patted the bus driver's shoulder. "Have a safe trip."</p>
    <p>"Bye, Ms. Cook," followed her in chorus as she stepped down to the asphalt of the parking lot. She stepped back as the doors closed and the bus lurched into gear, pulling away into the late afternoon Cambridge traffic.</p>
    <p>Rubbing her nose to rid herself of the scent of bus exhaust she ran her other hand through her hair, tugging it off her face and cheeks where the wind had tousled it. She thought about straightening up in the bathroom but had kept Mulgrew waiting long enough. So she hurried back to the dressing room.</p>
    <p>The corridor was quiet, and entering the small dressing room, Ronnie found it empty. She saw the cakes of makeup, and brushes neatly stacked, a washcloth lay drying across the back of the small chair. Ronnie found it still damp when she brushed it with her fingers while trying to think. <em>Where else would Mulgrew be?</em></p>
    <p>After a few minutes peeking in several other doors up and down the corridor behind the stage, Ronnie returned to Mulgrew's dressing room. She realized she had to face it. Kate was gone.</p>
    <p>Ronnie's heart thudded painfully, blood roaring in her ears. She felt lightheaded and sank onto the chair set before the vanity. She closed her eyes and swallowed down the lump in her throat.</p>
    <p>It hurt.</p>
    <p>It shouldn't. Mulgrew had said she couldn't. However Ronnie had hoped she could return quickly and continue her persuasion.</p>
    <p>Footfalls approached from the corridor. Ronnie turned in the chair, gripping the backrest anxiously. However, the person who appeared was not the petite actress. "She's not here," Ronnie told the young man in glasses wearing a pullover polo emblazoned Cambridge Chamber Choir.</p>
    <p>"Are you Ms. Cook?" he asked.</p>
    <p>Trying to get her emotions together and her thoughts of melancholy under control, Ronnie looked up from running her hand idly over the front edge of the vanity table. "Yes."</p>
    <p>"Ms. Mulgrew just called. She and her husband will be dining at Alfred's on The Square at seven. She said if we found you to ask if you would join them."</p>
    <p>Ronnie could not believe her ears. "At 7?" Mulgrew had not forgotten about her, nor had the actress avoided her purposely by playing at politeness just until the blonde had disappeared. Ronnie's elation quickly turned sour though when she looked at her watch. It was 5:52.</p>
    <p>Alfred's required semi-formal attire; skirts or dresses for the women, and ties and jackets for gentlemen. She looked down at herself. Her professional casual ensemble consisted of a pair of loose green slacks and a scoop neck white cotton top. While clean and presentable it certainly was not formal.</p>
    <p>Alfred's was here, in Cambridge. Her apartment was in Back Bay. The round trip alone would take the entire hour, not including the actual time to shower and dress. Feeling dismal, she pursed her lips. Shaking her head she admitted, "I can't."</p>
    <p>"Hmm?"</p>
    <p>"I'm improperly dressed," she explained.</p>
    <p>The young man grinned. "Ms. Mulgrew told me if you needed something to give you access to wardrobe."</p>
    <p>"Seriously?" Ronnie felt giddy.</p>
    <p>He waved for her to follow him. "Come on."</p>
    <p>Containing the bounce that sprang into her step Ronnie followed him quickly to the wardrobe room, where he pointed out racks of clothes acquired for both past and present performances by the costuming staff. The hodge podge of colors and styles almost certainly would reveal something suitable for Ronnie's dinner date.</p>
    <p> </p>
    <p>
      <strong>Part 7</strong>
    </p>
    <p>To reach Alfred's on Cambridge Square necessitated a cab ride once Ronnie had chosen a dress from the theater's wardrobe rack and changed. The taxi driver pulled into the line of cars awaiting the valet service. Anxious about being late, Ronnie paid her fare with a ten dollar bill, passing it across the seat and then reached for the door release.</p>
    <p>Once again a door sprang open before she could touch it. She jumped in surprise.</p>
    <p>"Ma'am?"</p>
    <p>Ronnie composed herself and smiled at the valet. He offered her a hand; she took it, stepping out onto the circular drive. "Thank you."</p>
    <p>He closed the taxi door. She turned to look up at the entrance to Alfred's. Uncannily she identified Mulgrew from behind, surprising herself with the recognition. The woman was out of costume and stage makeup. Her shoulders were bare, petite figure enclosed in a form-fitting floor-length black gown. Her hair had been swept up off her neck, tendrils of auburn backlit by the sconce lighting. Her head turned, her chin tilting upward.</p>
    <p>Ronnie felt a flutter in her stomach that the woman would soon be looking at her. The turn however stopped in profile, and Ronnie caught instead Mulgrew's smile for her companion. Her husband, she corrected. The woman's hand brushed over the lower arm of a silver-haired man with a broad face and subtle smile. He laid his hand over hers against the sleeve of his midnight-black suit jacket.</p>
    <p>When Mulgrew's smile appeared, Ronnie recognized a smile of adoration and devotion. There was a vitality that Ronnie had no doubt, though it might be presently suppressed in public, was unveiled in the bedroom.</p>
    <p>She gasped as she realized where her thoughts had turned. <em>Why was it so easy to imagine intimate scenes involving this woman?</em> Thoroughly mortifying herself, Ronnie turned around the pillar where she had stopped, and intently strode through the cars, heading for the curb and a taxi.</p>
    <p>"Ms. Cook?"</p>
    <p>She ignored the questioning call, hoping Mulgrew would believe she had not heard. Considering the cacophony of car engines rising and falling both here and on the nearing street, it could be true.</p>
    <p>"Ronnie?"</p>
    <p>Her mind raced trying to think of something to say as she turned. Mulgrew had followed and now closed her hand around Ronnie's wrist. Ronnie's gaze jerked downward to see the contact point, her mind completely at a loss for what to say, even what to think.</p>
    <p>When she finally lifted her gaze again it was to find Mulgrew smiling. "Guess you didn't see me, hmm?"</p>
    <p>Despite the continuing smile, Ronnie heard a thread of disappointment as though Mulgrew understood herself to be easily dismissed in a crowd. Such a misconception could not go unchallenged. However, how could Ronnie tell her that seeing Mulgrew with her husband had unexpectedly smashed a hole in Ronnie's heart?</p>
    <p>God, where was her courtroom cool? "I... Thank you for the invitation," Ronnie said instead.</p>
    <p>"Come meet Tim," Mulgrew replied. Shivers skated up Ronnie's arm, lodging a heaviness in her chest as Mulgrew's hand slipped down and wrapped instead around Ronnie's palm.</p>
    <p>Quickly to avoid attention she had to follow the smaller woman as Mulgrew led the way back to the restaurant's entrance.</p>
    <p>They were suddenly standing before Tim -- Hagan, Ronnie learned as Mulgrew introduced them. To Tim she was introduced as, "Ms. Cook, the schoolteacher I told you about."</p>
    <p>Tim nodded to her. "I... Call me Ronnie, please."</p>
    <p>"All right." He studied her a moment longer, a myriad of expressions, from puzzlement to bemusement crossing his features. Ronnie wondered what bemused him and took a deep breath finally when he turned away to put his arm around his wife's shoulders. "Let's eat," he said and grinned as Ronnie caught Kate poking him discreetly in the ribs. Despite the butterflies still in flight in her stomach she had to smile as she followed the couple inside.</p>
    <p> </p>
    <p>
      <strong>Part 8</strong>
    </p>
    <p>The maitre'd showed them to a small, intimate table near one of thehewn stone fireplaces well away from the general traffic of people passing between the rooms. With the sunset just beginning outside the restaurant staff had turned up the electric wall sconces to complement the candle power from decorative mauve tea lights arranged as a centerpiece.</p>
    <p>Ronnie absorbed the ambiance while their water goblets were filled and caught Kate looking at her, but when she lifted her chin to meet the gaze, she realized she had been mistaken. Mulgrew was looking up past her. She turned to see the array of sepia photographs lining the mantle over her head.</p>
    <p>"This is nice," Tim commented.</p>
    <p>Kate seemed to startle and turned to face him. Ronnie too turned to face her bread plate, watching Kate from the corner of her eye lifting her cloth napkin and arranging it on her lap before reaching for the small pre-cut sourdough loaf left beside her. She said nothing.</p>
    <p>Ronnie however saw an opening to regain her aplomb in this unexpected evening. She lifted her water and commented to Tim, "It's been remodeled since I was here last."</p>
    <p>"You've been here before?"</p>
    <p>"To celebrate a partnership."</p>
    <p>Mulgrew asked, "A friend's wedding?"</p>
    <p>"No, actually a new partner joining the firm where I worked."</p>
    <p>"I thought you were a teacher."</p>
    <p>"I am. Now. I used to be an attorney," Ronnie explained.</p>
    <p>"How?"</p>
    <p>Ronnie smiled a little sadly thinking of Harry Senate. "A college friend invited me to speak to his class." She did not add that he was no longer teaching since the reasons for that would have been an invasion of his privacy.</p>
    <p>Her hesitation however sparked Tim to comment, "Must've been some friend."</p>
    <p>"He had a unique approach. I enjoyed the students, so when the teacher shortage forced the legislature to relax the pre-certification requirements I applied to Winslow."</p>
    <p>"That's where you are now?" Kate asked.</p>
    <p>"Yes."</p>
    <p>Kate smiled and Ronnie could not hide the blush she felt creep into her cheeks. The light was low enough however she hoped it went unnoticed by her companions.</p>
    <p>The conversation lulled as the waiter gathered their orders. Ronnie restarted the conversation with a question to Kate, aware as she did so  that she was inviting the woman's gaze, both an unsettling and  gratifying experience. "I know that the play opened in Connecticut since Mr. Lombardo is associated with the Hartford Stage. And the play's time in Cleveland allowed you to spend time with your family." She had read that much in the playbill. "How did the decision to play in  Cambridge come about?"</p>
    <p>"You mean, do I have connections here? No, actually, I didn't. The production staff floated the play past several regional theaters. Cambridge bit first."</p>
    <p>"Are you headed for New York, do you think?"</p>
    <p>Mulgrew crossed her fingers around her fork. "From your mouth to God's ear." She grinned glancing upward then meeting Ronnie's gaze again. "But I have enjoyed Boston immensely."</p>
    <p>"This is your last week, right?" Tim asked.</p>
    <p>Kate turned her gaze to Tim. In the rounding of her lips and the shadows present in blue eyes, Ronnie detected resignation. "Yes. The set breakdown is Sunday after the final performance."</p>
    <p>"Are you moving on to another city right away?"</p>
    <p>"No. They're negotiating for a New York venue right now. Off-Broadway,"  she added to Ronnie's brow raised in question.</p>
    <p>Ronnie nodded while chewing her salad thoughtfully. "My students and I appreciated the chance to see it," she said finally.</p>
    <p>"Why did you cut short the chat then?"</p>
    <p>Ronnie shook her head then cleared her palate with a sip of water before answering. The delay gave her time to consider her words. "I didn't want to --" Her mind's eye replayed Natalie getting excited and reaching out to touch Mulgrew. A flash of protectiveness truly had been behind the preemptive ending to the encounter. "They were getting a little over-excited."</p>
    <p>She was grateful for the arrival of the waiter with their main courses. In leaning back to allow the plate to be set down Ronnie could drop her gaze from Kate's face which held an expression suggesting disbelief.</p>
    <p>However, Ronnie now understood that it had not simply been Ronnie's surprise appearance at her dressing room which upset Mulgrew. The woman had already been truly hurt by the cut off chance to interact with the students. Ronnie recalled her own feelings when the school bell had rung each time on the day she had visited Harry's classroom. Mulgrew had something of a born teacher in her as well then.</p>
    <p>In her selfish reaction Ronnie had been inappropriately protective. The role did not belong to her. She looked over at Tim to see him tucking his napkin down and beginning to dig in to his meal. Mulgrew on the other hand moved more slowly to begin eating.</p>
    <p>Underneath the table, Ronnie reached out with her foot, finding Kate's. Blue eyes darted to her face as the fork froze halfway to the woman's mouth. Ronnie mouthed, "I'm sorry," and gave a gentle tap before pulling her foot away. Suprisingly Kate blushed enough that Ronnie could see the color on her skin even in the low lighting. Ronnie smiled and returned her attention to her meal.</p>
    <p> </p>
    <p>
      <strong>Part 9</strong>
    </p>
    <p>After finishing her dinner, Kate excused herself to the ladies room. Ronnie asked to see the check in order to pay for her portion. Tim shook his head, retrieving his wallet from an inner breast pocket. "Go clean up if you like. I've got this."</p>
    <p>Ronnie relented reluctantly and followed the path Kate had taken.</p>
    <p>After the intimately low lighting of the restaurant Ronnie's eyes teared briefly, assaulted by the bright fluorescent lighting of the ladies room. A gilded mirror over a wall-hung sink reflected back the tidy space. Pots overflowing with ivy hung from the ceiling corners.</p>
    <p>She turned back to study the mirror as a toilet in one of the two occupied stalls flushed. She hated bathroom hand-offs, avoiding eye contact preferred regarding the base nature of needing to use the facility.</p>
    <p>The emerging woman was not Mulgrew. Ronnie had to back up, permitting the portly woman access to the sink. She stumbled into the replica Louis XVI chair by the door. Gracelessly she fell against the seat looking up in surprise. Mulgrew, emerging behind the other patron, saw the entire incident.</p>
    <p>While her eyes - very blue Ronnie noted - widened in alarm, Kate tucked her left hand over her mouth clearly blocking laughter from escaping. The overweight woman, swathed in equally voluminous gown and gloves and fur, had finished with her ablutions and shuffled past Ronnie and on out the door oblivious to the blonde's predicament.</p>
    <p>Once free to move Ronnie righted herself properly and found Mulgrew's hand there to help her stand. Taking it she came up alongside the sink. Mulgrew's eyes darted between hers and then the smaller woman turned away.</p>
    <p>Ronnie caught the bemused smile in profile. "You thought that was funny," she said lightly conveying her own humor had been piqued by the situation.</p>
    <p>"Are you hurt?" Mulgrew asked while busying her hands under the running water.</p>
    <p>"No."</p>
    <p>The smile broadened. "Then yes, I found it... amusing. You must've been all arms and legs as a girl."</p>
    <p>"Still am, I guess."</p>
    <p>Mulgrew's head turned toward her, at first eye level with Ronnie's chest then slowly her eyes raised to meet Ronnie's gaze.</p>
    <p>Something that felt like electricity crackled between them. Ronnie held very still, feeling keyed but unsure what to do about it.</p>
    <p>"Not any more," Mulgrew addressed Ronnie's earlier comment.</p>
    <p>Their gazes remained locked, both frozen in place. Kate looked a little shocked at her comment. Ronnie felt tendrils of warmth slowly squeeze around her heart. It was migrating to her groin the longer Kate's blue eyes studied her.</p>
    <p>Abruptly her eyes closed and Mulgrew shook her head slightly, the auburn hair framing her face shifting shadows like satin in the lighting. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to keep you."</p>
    <p>Keep me. Please. Ronnie blanched at the eroticism of her inner voice. "Excuse me." Quickly she passed Mulgrew, unable to avoid the brush of their bodies, and shut herself in the furthest stall, latching it shut and sitting down.</p>
    <p>She did not need to relieve herself, but God, she needed to relieve herself. Her hands shook slightly as she covered her face. The contact also revealed that her temperature had elevated sharply in the last several seconds. She listened for the sounds of Mulgrew leaving.</p>
    <p>A minute passed. Nothing happened. Exhaling silently Ronnie continued to sit.</p>
    <p>Outside the stall Mulgrew lifted a hand towel from the stack of clean linens, rubbing the soft texture over her hands. After a minute she stopped and stared at them. Gripping the towel in her fingers she turned and sat down on the small chair where Ronnie had earlier fallen. Her gaze went to the stall door; her mind whirling.</p>
    <p>Minutes passed. They remained alone. One inside and one outside, both at a loss what to do now. Clearly they were communicating on a level beyond dinner companions.</p>
    <p>The actress had no more time to consider when Ronnie emerged from the stall. The younger woman was adjusting the bottom of her dress at the knee and looking down. Her blonde hair slipped from her shoulders hiding her face. The dress was simple, a spaghetti strap sheath in complimentary teal against tan shoulders.</p>
    <p>Kate's gaze slipped lower, keenly aware of the body filling out the dress. The schoolteacher was, in a word, stunning. Her demeanor however did not shout 'look at me.'</p>
    <p>"Something wrong?"</p>
    <p>Caught Kate shook her head, lifting her gaze slowly back up and meeting uncertain cornflower blue eyes. She smiled lightly, trying to ignore the quiver in her stomach. "Nothing wrong. You found that on the theater's rack?"</p>
    <p>"Yes. I appreciate you considering that." Ronnie approached the sink. Kate leaned back and looked up, lacing her fingers around a knee. "I almost declined."</p>
    <p>"I wouldn't have wanted that."</p>
    <p>Ronnie's eyes changed then as they had before, darkening and pupils dilating. Kate had seen passion enough to recognize it, even if it was the first time seeing it in a woman's gaze.</p>
    <p>"Could I ask you something?" Kate asked. She wondered if the question would even be on her lips in any other circumstance.</p>
    <p>"Yes?"</p>
    <p>"What did you mean by the 'I'm sorry' you whispered at the beginning of dinner?"</p>
    <p>The edginess in Ronnie faded a little. Surprised, Kate realized she was disappointed. However when the tall woman started to lean on the side of the sink, thought better of it and dropped to a crouch at Kate's feet, she felt surprisingly pleased by the direct contact as Ronnie's hand slid first over her thigh and then against the seat, resting next to her arm, so close the warmth sent shivers up her spine.</p>
    <p>The blonde's gaze was direct, and close. "Just that. I was sorry I cut your time off with my students."</p>
    <p>"Only that?" Kate asked, barely able to find her voice as Ronnie's breath ghosted across her cheek.</p>
    <p>Ronnie's eyes darted between hers, searching. "What else should I say?" Energy flowed through her body. Her fight with herself in the bathroom stall a distant memory. She's here; so are you, her inner voice challenged. No one will know.</p>
    <p>But I will... I will finally know. I will finally feel what I have been imagining all evening.</p>
    <p>It had to be the briefest kiss in the history of kisses. But it was a taste of heaven. Ronnie's lips brushed against the satin warmth of Kate's for a mere millisecond. Her nose bumped Kate's and the actress gasped. Scared, Ronnie jerked back so fast she upset her precarious balance.</p>
    <p>Her name, not "Ms. Cook" but "Ronnie!" blurted from Kate's lips as Ronnie pitched backward. Warm fingers closed over her flailing right hand just as her head smashed into the sink with a reverberating thunk. She dropped to the tile floor, knocked out cold.</p>
    <p> </p>
    <p>
      <strong>Part 10</strong>
    </p>
    <p>"Ronnie!" Kate called out in alarm as the blonde fell away from her. The double thud of the other woman's head hitting first the sink then the floor still echoed in her scattered head. The flailing hand in her grasp went limp.</p>
    <p>Dropping to her knees Kate squeezed the fingers in her left hand and patted Ronnie's cheek with the other. When Ronnie did not respond, gingerly Kate slipped her fingers under the woman's chin and worried her teeth against her bottom lip while searching for a pulse.</p>
    <p>Finding one there, but weak, Kate turned her attention to Ronnie's face while easing her fingers into the blonde's hair to assess the damage. A lump had already risen but Ronnie did not appear to be bleeding.</p>
    <p>Kate knew it was unwise to move the younger woman until the damage to her back and neck could be professionally assessed. Additionally Kate knew she should go for that help, call someone. She could not explain what kept her seated on the floor, Ronnie's hand in hers, watching the slight rise and fall of the woman's chest with a spreading feeling of prayer filling her. Her fingers continued sliding idly through soft blonde locks.</p>
    <p>Against her thigh Kate suddenly felt movement. Looking down the length of the supine body she noticed Ronnie's left hand shifting. She intercepted it enroute to the blonde's head. A moan escaped the full lips when their fingers touched the raw spot.</p>
    <p>"Ugh. Oh. Ow."</p>
    <p>Kate's gaze shifted to meet eyelids fluttering open. She smiled, awash with relief. "Hi."</p>
    <p>"Hello."</p>
    <p>Ronnie's eyes didn't look bloodshot Kate thought with relief enough to banter back. "I'm impressed. Two syllables. How are you feeling?"</p>
    <p>Ronnie's face screwed up in a look of self-determination. Instinctively Kate held her shoulders down from trying to get up.</p>
    <p>"Not yet. Just relax. You hit your head pretty hard."</p>
    <p>Ronnie worked her jaw and swallowed. She made a face.</p>
    <p>"Feeling sick?" Kate worried. That could mean a concussion.</p>
    <p>Nodding her head slowly Ronnie rolled away from Kate. Not asked to help, Kate could only watch with worry as the woman wrestled herself to her knees, head down over her hands. "Wow," Ronnie breathed, swallowing reflexively a couple more times before using the wall on the far side of the sink to push her way to her feet.</p>
    <p>Kate stood too. Ronnie had her back to her. Kate could see the effort it had taken; Ronnie's back was expanding and contracting in deep, labored breaths.</p>
    <p>"I... I'm all right," Ronnie said. The hesitations in her speech made Kate's heart skip a beat. "You should go."</p>
    <p>"I'm not going anywhere until I know you're all right."</p>
    <p>"I'll be fine. Please, just go." Still Ronnie had not turned around. Kate watched the long fingers trying to hold her up against the wall. The woman was barely able to remain on her feet.</p>
    <p>"You should sit down," Kate said and reached out to grasp Ronnie's arm helpfully.</p>
    <p>The blonde pulled away from her touch.</p>
    <p>"Sit down," Kate said, more forceful than she had intended. However, being ignored really hurt. "Why are you angry?" she snapped at the stiff back. "If anybody has a right to be angry it's me, not you. I was the --"</p>
    <p>"I'm sorry." Ronnie's voice sounded weak as the blonde cut her off, but finally the tall woman turned around to face Kate. "You have every right to be angry. I... took advantage of you."</p>
    <p>"Don't apologize for that." Ronnie's gaze jerked up and Kate could see the wave of pain take her as much by surprise as Kate's words. "Please? Don't." Kate reiterated, shaking her head. "Because if you did, so would I." Ronnie's gaze bore into hers. "And I don't like to lie."</p>
    <p>Ronnie was braced by both hands against the sink rim but, caught in Kate's gaze and words, she felt her knees go weak. Forcing her limbs to obey she straightened her arm, locking her right elbow and kept herself upright while reaching out toward Kate with her left hand.</p>
    <p>Without words Kate moved forward guiding Ronnie's arm over her right shoulder. Ronnie smiled as Kate's right arm circled her waist supportively and the small left hand grasped Ronnie's right upper arm. The incidental body contact made Ronnie gasp, not from pain but pleasure.</p>
    <p>Kate's head turned to see her expression and she smiled at the passion Ronnie could not hide. Moving her hand to Ronnie's cheek, Kate granted permission to that desire.</p>
    <p>Their gazes searched one another's. As their lips met their eyes closed. Just the lightest touch, but together they lingered in the contact, feeling the other's breath pass across their lips, nostrils filling slowly with the other's scent.</p>
    <p>Ronnie moved her hand up Kate's back, pausing at the top of the fabric against warm smooth skin. She stroked it with her thumb marveled by the satin texture. In response Kate's fingertips shifted along Ronnie's jaw, deepening the kiss. The sensation spiraled out in all directions, making Ronnie's stomach clench, her groin ache with pleasure, her arms shake, and her head swim.</p>
    <p>It felt so similar to her earlier bout with nausea though Ronnie pulled out of Kate's hold with alarm. "Um. Mm. Excuse me."</p>
    <p>Kate smiled tenderly, brushing her fingers through the locks of hair at Ronnie's temple. "Your head?" she asked.</p>
    <p>"Yeah." Ronnie swallowed carefully denying her body's desire to lose her dinner. "I've never done this before."</p>
    <p>"What? Hit your head? Or kiss a woman?"</p>
    <p>Surprised by the levity, Ronnie stared at Kate before she admitted, "Um. Both?"</p>
    <p>"I'm surprised. You're rather good at it."</p>
    <p>Ronnie's brow furrowed in confusion and the pain of her concussion. Surely she misunderstood. "Have you done this before?"</p>
    <p>Kate shook her head. "Not even for a role. You're my first." She looked where her hand laid over Ronnie's on the sink. "Why did you kiss me?"</p>
    <p>"I had to find out what it felt like..." Ronnie stared at their joined hands as well. "What you felt like," she added after a long minute, raising her gaze to the heart-shaped face that had haunted her for almost two weeks.</p>
    <p>"A game?" Kate frowned.</p>
    <p>"No!" Ronnie winced as her own sharp retort hurt her head.</p>
    <p>"I'm sorry," Kate amended. "I know it wasn't a game." She revealed, "I felt... something, too." She met Ronnie's eyes. "I feel something."</p>
    <p>Ronnie lifted her hand, clasping Kate's within it. She wanted to stare into those blue eyes all day, all night if possible. However the glare of the bathroom lighting was aggravating her headache. "Can we go somewhere else and talk?"</p>
    <p>Instantly Kate moved to alleviate her pain. "Of course." She turned toward the door to lead Ronnie out. Pushing the door open she looked up into the shadowy corridor and froze.</p>
    <p>Ronnie felt Kate's hand go ice cold. Worried she stepped forward. "What? Oh."</p>
    <p>Tim Hagan stood from the small bench. "You ladies certainly took forever in there."</p>
    <p>"Yes," Ronnie went for an approximation of truth. "I took a fall."</p>
    <p>"A fall? Are you all right?"</p>
    <p>"Yes. I'm fine now." Kate looked up at her. "Your wife was very helpful."</p>
    <p>"Well, if that's everything and you don't need to talk to the management I'll have the valet service call us a cab to share. We can at least see you safely home."</p>
    <p>Ronnie felt Kate squeeze her hand then drop it. She'd been unaware they were still holding on to one another. "I'd appreciate that. I need to get the dress back to the theater anyway. I'll offer you a nightcap. You can take the dress when you go."</p>
    <p>Tim smiled, holding out his hand to Kate. She took his arm, and Ronnie followed the couple out of the restaurant much as she had coming in.</p>
    <p> </p>
    <p>
      <strong>Part 11</strong>
    </p>
    <p>"Where to?" Tim asked. He held the rear door open on a Charles River Cab Company black-and-white checkered cab gesturing Ronnie to follow in after his wife.</p>
    <p>"I'll sit up front," she said instead.</p>
    <p>"C'mon. You modern ladies need to humor us old-fashioned fellas."</p>
    <p>Ronnie saw the sparkling humor in his eyes and shamefully dropped her chin. His congenialty felt so undeserved. "All right. My apartment is on Hancock Street, number 160."</p>
    <p>Tim waited until she was inside and clear of the door then closed it, squeezing himself in the front seat against the meter equipment. "160 Hancock Street," he told the driver.</p>
    <p>Ronnie had seen the Boston area scenery since childhood. Instead she watched Kate's reactions to her hometown as they took the bridge over the Charles River, and began leaving the business district for the drive into the residential Back Bay.</p>
    <p>Kate's chin rested in her hand, her elbow balanced on the armrest in the door. Her eyes flitted over the signs marking historic sites. Her features were intermittently lit by the streetlamps as they passed. She looks content, Ronnie thought, wondering if the scenery was the only thing on Kate's mind.</p>
    <p>During the extended drive along the Esplanade where the street lights were sparse, Ronnie looked out to see the bandshell glowing with the effect of its footlights.</p>
    <p>"That's beautiful," Kate whispered close to her ear.</p>
    <p>Ronnie sublimated her shiver of reaction at feeling Kate's breath on her neck while her hand was enclosed in warm fingers on her lap. "Yeah," she inhaled. "Yeah, it is."</p>
    <p>She turned her head only slightly to find Kate's gaze only inches from hers, and the woman's breath ghosted across her lips. She couldn't stop a small lick of anticipation. Quickly she turned to look back out the window.</p>
    <p>"So, what's it like to grow up in the seat of the Revolution?" Kate asked, her voice now loud enough to carry.</p>
    <p>"Probably not much different from growing up elsewhere." Kate's reflection in the glass held her gaze like a magnet. Holding a conversation was getting more difficult.</p>
    <p>"Well it's a lot different from where I grew up."</p>
    <p>She was mesmerized by the lights flashing through Kate's image, as though she was filled with stars, a universe contained in one small, beautiful package. "Mmm?" Ronnie's exhalation steamed the window, blocking Kate's image from her eyes.</p>
    <p>"Dubuque, Iowa. Small town," Kate emphasized dryly. Her reflection looked distinctly unhappy.</p>
    <p>As Ronnie turned around, Kate's gaze lifted, smile appearing. "Small towns have a lot to recommend them," she said. Especially the one that gave birth to you. She was aware her voice was more flirtatious that she wanted, or even should be. She could not seem to help it when caught in Kate's gaze, almost ferally hungry, flickering between her eyes and her lips.</p>
    <p>Her heart hammered loudly in her chest and Ronnie had to swallow and wet her throat. Kate's fingers were circling off her palm and onto her knee.</p>
    <p>Tim's voice came at her as if from a distance. "Hmm? What?" she asked him to repeat his question.</p>
    <p>"I asked if the history of this place ever gave you any ideas?"</p>
    <p>"Ideas? About what?"</p>
    <p>"I don't know. Revolutions. Change. You know..."</p>
    <p>"Breaking out," Kate added. "Trying new, radical things."</p>
    <p>Radical? You mean like contemplating ravishing you while your husband is only a few feet away?</p>
    <p>Ronnie was glad for the low lighting in the cab as her body responded vigorously to the imagery. When she managed to speak though, she said carefully, "Not usually. I was too busy being establishment to contemplate being too radical. I got into Harvard on my academics. Made it to law school on academics too. Joined a law firm where radical ideas are strictly verboten," she offered with a touch of confidential humor.</p>
    <p>"Something changed," Tim guessed. "Now you're a teacher."</p>
    <p>Ronnie shook her head. "Radical ideas are still verboten."</p>
    <p>"Have you been told not to cross some lines?" Kate asked.</p>
    <p>"My first year was almost my last. I should have probably lost my job six or seven times."</p>
    <p>"But you didn't," Kate pointed out.</p>
    <p>"No. Steven needed me too much. He just kept reading me the riot act. Then I started my certification classes. Things got easier after that. I understood some of the unspoken rules."</p>
    <p>"You still seem somewhat unconventional for a teacher," Tim commented.</p>
    <p>"Tame by comparison, I assure you. I had a colleague who used to do field trips to the morgue. This year one of our science teachers demonstrated Newton's laws of motion by conducting fire extinguisher races down the hall." Kate's eyes widened to saucers. "Neither of them were fired either."</p>
    <p>The redhead covered her face and tried to stifle her laughter. She failed miserably, much to Ronnie's delight as Kate's laughter filled the taxi and wrapped itself warmly around Ronnie until the taxi pulled to a stop.</p>
    <p>"Here you are," the cab driver reported.</p>
    <p>Tim held the door for them again. Once out of the car, Ronnie lifted her keys from her purse. Kate grasped her arm and leaned back toward Tim after returning Ronnie's surprised look with a lifted eyebrow. "Darling, Ronnie and I are heading upstairs."</p>
    <p>"All right," Tim answered while still leaning inside the passenger window paying the cab driver with bills he unfolded and counted out one at a time.</p>
    <p>"Let's get out of the wind," Kate said to Ronnie.</p>
    <p>Wind? Ronnie's puzzlement continued as she followed Kate up the steps of her brownstone. Together their hands turned the key in the lock and Kate entered the small foyer first.</p>
    <p>"What was that?" Ronnie asked, starting to turn around from closing the door.</p>
    <p>"This," Kate said, grasping Ronnie's shoulders and using her body to block the door while she pressed into the same body for a hurried but passionate kiss.</p>
    <p>The wind was certainly knocked out of her now, Ronnie thought, breathless and stunned. She looked through the smoked glass and found Tim's form approaching the door. Hopefully shapes were as indistinct from one side as the other.</p>
    <p>She opened the door.</p>
    <p>"It is a bit windy," he remarked shivering slightly in his coat. "Must be the river."</p>
    <p>"Probably." She pointed to the stairs. "I'm on the third floor." No way was she going to get in the tiny elevator with the two of them. She felt awkward enough as it was right now.</p>
    <p>Tim brought up the rear as the trio climbed two flights to Ronnie's apartment.</p>
    <p>"These remind me of the Lower East Side or maybe the Village in New York," Kate mused.</p>
    <p>"Same era, I'd guess," Tim said.</p>
    <p>"I lived in New York after I first left home," Kate told Ronnie.</p>
    <p>Ronnie nodded. Unlocking her door she reached in and caught the light switch before stepping back, pulling the door wide and inviting in her guests. "It's not much," she said deprecatingly, "But it's home."</p>
    <p>The apartment was large, studio-like in that one space blending into the next. Only the furniture, wood frame with thick cream-colored cushions formed a couch for the living room. Just beyond a matching chair though was the mesh and frame of a folding room divider, depicting Chinese scenes of nature, which sectioned off a large formal eight-foot dining table. Knick knacks of a variety that bespoke Ronnie's many interests were scattered on most table and shelf surfaces.</p>
    <p>Beyond the 'dining room' was the kitchen. Kate could just see the stove. Beside that, across what appeared to be a pass-bar over the sink, was another open space, ending in a glass inlaid door, the lights of the city twinkling beyond. A porch.</p>
    <p>Scanning further left, Kate saw the opening leading to a darkened room, identifying the shadows as the headboard of a large bed. She looked back up at Ronnie, seeing the vibrance of the rooms in the blonde's face as she waited expectantly for an opinion. "It's lovely."</p>
    <p>"Can I offer either of you something to drink?"</p>
    <p>"Nothing for me," Tim said.</p>
    <p>"Please sit down," Ronnie suggested, gesturing to the couch. "I'll change and be right out."</p>
    <p>Kate looked from Tim settling on the thick cushions to Ronnie's bedroom. She remembered the heated kiss in the foyer and realized she was very close to behaving beyond indecent, as just the thought of helping Ronnie out of her dress made her blood hot and heart race. "I think I'll take some water."</p>
    <p>Close proximity to Ronnie was a constant excitement to her senses. She had already tried several times to categorize the elusive scent Ronnie had worn every time they met. Contact with any part of her body seemed a requirement -- she recalled covering Ronnie's hand in the car. Tim had been right. Something about being in Boston, or being with Ronnie, was bringing out the rebel in her.</p>
    <p>Breaking out. Trying something radical, new. God, she had accused Ronnie of a game in the ladies room. Why did the thought of having a hot, torrid affair singe her nerve-endings with excitement?</p>
    <p>Withdrawing into her mental arguments with her body and her mind, Kate acknowledged the water Ronnie handed her with a nod. She only caught the younger woman's back as she disappeared into the dark bedroom and shut the door, apparently just as desperate to be apart from Kate for a few minutes.</p>
    <p>Tim had settled on the couch, arms stretching along the tops of the thick cushions. Sitting next to him would invite one onto her shoulders. Kate went to look at the porch, and the lights of the city, leaning against the wall, and sipped her water.</p>
    <p>When the hairs on the back of her neck prickled, Kate turned to see Ronnie reentering the main space of her apartment. The blonde was now dressed in the simple casualness of a baby blue cotton cling top, dipping neckline revealing the pale skin of her upper chest. Her long legs were now hidden in a pair of relaxed fit jeans. The dress from the theater's wardrobe draped over one arm.</p>
    <p>"Here."</p>
    <p>Kate looked down to accept the dress, catching sight of Ronnie's bare feet and had to catch her breath at the very sudden, very wanton image of starting at the bottom and kissing her way up this body overwhelmed her mind. Ronnie's feet! she scolded herself. She could not speak.</p>
    <p>Ronnie must have thought some other reason kept her silent. "Do you think I should wash this out before you return it?"</p>
    <p>Kate looked at the garment, now in both their hands, and Ronnie's subtle scent assailed her. Just carrying this with her would not put the woman from her mind for a second. The rebel growing within however said, "No, I'll take care of it."</p>
    <p>She might just keep the hapless garment -- a keepsake from a love she could not have.</p>
    <p> </p>
    <p>
      <strong>Part 12</strong>
    </p>
    <p>Ronnie watched Kate stare down at the dress. Tears shined in the other woman's eyes. God, it just killed her to see Kate upset.</p>
    <p>Kate's husband leaned forward on the couch riffling through the magazines on Ronnie's coffee table. For whatever reason he seemed oblivious to Kate's turmoil. Ronnie however had become so attuned to the emotions of the compact woman in such a short period of time she wondered how anyone who professed to love the compact woman could miss it.</p>
    <p>But what could she do about it? Grasping Kate's hand she felt it tremble under the cover of the gown.</p>
    <p>Deciding Kate needed a private place to give vent to her emotions, Ronnie took her hand and pulled her through the kitchen and onto the porch, for the moment ignoring Kate's look of alarm. Once they were both safely behind the closed door, enveloped in the dark night, Ronnie let Kate go.</p>
    <p>Kate looked over their surroundings, the stars above, the alley below. The distant lights of the city glowed warm, peaceful. Even the sounds of the streets, cars humming, horns honking occasionally, relaxed her. The silence had been definitely overwhelming. Not knowing what to say she lifted her gaze to Ronnie, who looked so understanding the tears hovering in Kate's eyes spilled over, flowing down her cheeks. She tried to think of something, to stop the impending end of their contact.</p>
    <p>Distraught she closed her eyes and tilted her head back to try stemming the flow of her tears.</p>
    <p>Ronnie's arms were suddenly around her, the long body pressed gently against her. She clutched back in anguish as the taller woman cradled the back of her head and pressed her cheek gently into the soft swell of her breast. Whispered, quiet noises of solace entered her ear and slipped down into her chest, wrapping around Kate's heart.</p>
    <p>"I... don't... Don't go," she choked softly.</p>
    <p>"Sh. Hush. I won't." Ronnie did not want to let go either. Leaning back she tilted up Kate's chin with a forefinger, brushing with her thumb at tear tracks staining the flawless face. Kate's bottom lip trembled. Ronnie sucked on it sweetly, soothing them both with the soft contact. At last she tore herself away to meet swirling azure.</p>
    <p>Every motion of their bodies brushing against one another taunted her. Every shiver Kate made, and every satiny molecule of skin and hair under her fingertips seeped into Ronnie's muscles resulting in a profound contentment. She had never experienced anything like it. Ever.</p>
    <p>"Tell me what you want to do," Ronnie asked softly.</p>
    <p>Kate held her eyes a moment longer, looked toward the door then back up into Ronnie's eyes. "I want more time. One evening is not enough."</p>
    <p>"You're leaving Sunday."</p>
    <p>"I... I could stay. For a while."</p>
    <p>"What about your husband? Your home?"</p>
    <p>"I need to understand what's happening between us," Kate urged. "Please?"</p>
    <p>"You want an affair."</p>
    <p>"No!" Kate leaned against the building wall, feeling its stone surface chill her back. It brought a measure of clear thinking. "Yes. God, I'm nearly forty-eight," she murmured then looked up at Ronnie. There was want in Kate's eyes that buckled Ronnie's knees. She leaned against the railing for support as Kate went on. "How is it you can make me feel eighteen?"</p>
    <p>Ronnie smiled wryly as she mentally calculated backward. "If you were eighteen we couldn't be having this conversation," she said. "I'd be six."</p>
    <p>Kate laughed softly, painfully. "All arms and legs?"</p>
    <p>Ronnie shook her head. "Nope. Cherubicly fat." Her puffy-cheeked smirk brought on Kate's laugh again.</p>
    <p>"That has to be the most magical sound I have ever heard," Ronnie admitted, drawn irresistibly to the woman again.</p>
    <p>"I haven't laughed so frequently in a long time. Not since..." Kate grew introspective, leaning against the railing as Ronnie hovered at her shoulder.</p>
    <p>Ronnie caressed the back of Kate's left shoulder. "Awhile?"</p>
    <p>"I... I had a friend in New York. She passed away last year."</p>
    <p>"Close?"</p>
    <p>"Since I was 19. Her name was Nancy." Kate lifted her eyes again and searched Ronnie's face. "There's... something within you. When I looked at you... from the beginning, I saw... a very unique friend."</p>
    <p>Ronnie grasped the fingers which had been reaching for her face. "At least that." Silence cradled them and they wanted to remain outside basking in the shared feelings as their hands held their gazes lingered, remembering the kiss, dreaming other kisses... Trying not to face reality.</p>
    <p>Ronnie sighed. "We'd better step back inside before Tim thinks I kidnapped you."</p>
    <p>"I wish you would."</p>
    <p>Ronnie shook her head. "Kate, Tim loves you. You're married to him, and I'm just a besotted fan."</p>
    <p>"No, you're not." Kate wouldn't let Ronnie belittle their attraction. "I want a chance to see where this goes."</p>
    <p>"No, you don't." Ronnie opened the door. She noticed Tim sitting relaxed and reading. "I... promised you both a nightcap, didn't I?" she said loudly, drawing his attention.</p>
    <p>Tim turned slowly looking up. Kate looked at her a little bewildered. "It's a nice crisp night. Why don't we all go out on the porch and I'll identify some of the city lights, give you a resident's insight for a tour itinerary." Ronnie saw Kate swallow, collecting herself with effort as Tim joined them in the kitchen handing Kate her wrap.</p>
    <p>Ronnie decided warmed brandy would be the best choice for the chilly night. She hoped Kate found it soothing. She hoped the alcoholic edge soothed her own nerves. "Do you drink brandy, Tim?"</p>
    <p>"Fine with me."</p>
    <p>"All right." Ronnie watched Kate, who wasn't trusting herself to speak, look back over her shoulder after Tim had stepped through the door to the porch. "Kate?"</p>
    <p>"I'll help." Kate stepped back inside the kitchen closing the door behind her. She watched Ronnie crouching to retrieve something from a low cabinet. "Thank you for the time outside."</p>
    <p>Ronnie turned in her crouch, leaning with one hand against the outside of the cabinet and looked up at Kate. "You should relax."</p>
    <p>"You could help with that."</p>
    <p>"Kate, beyond being your friend, I can't." She pulled up the double boiler and poured three measures of brandy, spices and a dash of sugar into the central pot. Filling the outer pot with water from the tap she set the assembly on her glass stove top, turning on the element underneath. "I like Tim."</p>
    <p>"But you feel something for me."</p>
    <p>Ronnie restrained the desire to ignore her conscience. "If you weren't married..."</p>
    <p>"It wouldn't be cheating if we just spend time together. Can't we... talk about... getting together sometime?" Kate stepped up to Ronnie, imploring her. "Just... give me your number?" Kate put her hands on Ronnie's forearms.</p>
    <p>Tim was so solicitous and attentive of Kate, and even friendly toward Ronnie. However, Ronnie's physical passion for Kate was not buried deep enough by the reasoning, ex-lawyer's conscience yet to resist this direct assault on her defenses.</p>
    <p>The woman's touch tore the lid off of her repressed feelings. She grasped Kate's forearms in a quick turnaround of their grips, startling the woman even as she pressed the smaller body into the cabinetry. She bent her head and claimed a forceful kiss. "You want an affair," she reiterated.</p>
    <p>"Can we have a week?"</p>
    <p>Ronnie groaned. God, it would be so easy to utter the one syllable assenting to this insane desire between them. "I know what I want," she said instead, setting Kate aside. "A week isn't it."</p>
    <p>Kate bit her lip trying not to scream in anguish. She tried to think of something, anything to keep Ronnie from walking out of her life.</p>
    <p> </p>
    <p>
      <strong>Part 13</strong>
    </p>
    <p>"Is that brandy ready?" Tim leaned into the kitchen.</p>
    <p>Ronnie froze; Kate drew breath quickly answering.</p>
    <p>"Almost." Kate turned away from Ronnie but due to the upset she knew was written all over her face she turned to the stove rather than toward Tim.</p>
    <p>"Are you getting your dose of girl talk?" he teased, stepping inside and saving Ronnie's electric bill from trying to heat the outside.</p>
    <p>Kate perked up, an idea striking her. "Yes. I have missed that in the rush of things."</p>
    <p>The brew on the stove gave a rolling plop. "I think the brandy's ready," Ronnie said, fetching down three large mugs. Carefully she lifted the pot and poured out.</p>
    <p>Tim took the first sip as they all stood in Ronnie's kitchen, hands cupped around the broad hand-painted ceramic mugs. With a satisfied smack of his lips he praised the cook. "That hits the last cold spot."</p>
    <p>Ronnie chuckled. "Kate's told me she's from Dubuque. Where do you hail from?"</p>
    <p>"Born and raised in a suburb of Cleveland." He held the door as the two women preceded him onto the porch.</p>
    <p>"Must've been nice."</p>
    <p>"Just a small town boy makes good," he said lightly. "I'm on the city council."</p>
    <p>"Congratulations. Politics is a passion?"</p>
    <p>"Inbred. Family's very active. They encouraged me to try a little higher."</p>
    <p>"Oh?"</p>
    <p>"Tim lost the campaign for governor."</p>
    <p>"Oh." Ronnie's face dimmed. "I'm sorry."</p>
    <p>Tim shrugged. "I'll try again when the opposition doesn't have an incumbent."</p>
    <p>"Well funded?"</p>
    <p>"And well connected."</p>
    <p>Ronnie directed her guests' gaze up the alley toward the south, where there was a wide swath of green, faintly lit by street lamps. "I participated in exactly one rally my whole life. Right there on the Commons."</p>
    <p>Unable to see where Ronnie pointed Kate moved closer to get the same angle.</p>
    <p>"Isn't that where the Revolution started?"</p>
    <p>"No, that was Lexington and Concord greens. That's Boston Common. Today it's used for a lot of political protests, concerts, rallies by the college students. That sort of thing." Ronnie's hand fell naturally to Kate's shoulder as the woman stood in front of her.</p>
    <p>Kate welcomed the touch, sipping her brandy awash in the closeness of Ronnie, and aware that Tim stood somewhere behind, smiling on her left.</p>
    <p>"So you're not a political animal?" Tim asked.</p>
    <p>"Corporate attorneys are kin to corporate raiders."</p>
    <p>"Then you saw the light," he dramatized.</p>
    <p>"Something like that," Ronnie chuckled. Unable to resist, her fingertips caressed Kate's shoulder as they remained cloaked mostly by shadows.</p>
    <p>"So you really like teaching?" Kate asked.</p>
    <p>"Very much. There's many problems to solve." Ronnie leaned back against the building, to both take her hand off Kate which was becoming a needy desire, and to sip her brandy, cupping it in both hands as she propped a foot against the stone wall. "But when a student learns, really learns something, something I tried to explain, and they form an informed opinion -- even a contrary one, I can't help but be proud. They're thinking. They're engaged. I did that."</p>
    <p>"Teachers get far too much of the blame these days," Tim commented.</p>
    <p>"So many students only have us for support though."</p>
    <p>"Where are their parents?" Kate asked.</p>
    <p>"Absent mostly. Or working too hard for the family's needs," Ronnie answered. "I helped Natalie actually get her family into one of the homeless motels."</p>
    <p>"Natalie?" Kate drew a blank on the name.</p>
    <p>Ronnie smiled, recalling the girl whose monopolizing of Kate had spurred her own jealousy, and her own recognition of her growing attraction to Kate. "Do you remember the girl who tried to ask you all those questions after the show?"</p>
    <p>Kate nodded. "That was Natalie? She's homeless?"</p>
    <p>"She was. She and her mother were living in a VW Bus under the parkway when I first met them."</p>
    <p>Kate shook her head, continuing to sip at her brandy.</p>
    <p>A tower clock in a church somewhere -- Boston being full of them -- rang bells signaling the top of an hour.</p>
    <p>Tim looked at his watch. "It's midnight. We'd better go."</p>
    <p>Kate closed her eyes against the news. I'm not a pumpkin. I won't disappear. Please. Just a little longer. She felt she was close to a breakthrough in Ronnie's reservations. She brushed Tim's hand where it now lay on her shoulder as she faced Ronnie. Her gaze returned to Ronnie. "Thank you for joining us for dinner."</p>
    <p>"My pleasure." Ronnie walked the couple to her door. Kate frowned, obviously hoping for a sign. It hurt, but Ronnie held fast to her resolve. Kate would wake up in Cleveland some morning, next to Tim and realize that Ronnie didn't mean as much as her marriage.</p>
    <p>Tim hung back briefly after Kate walked to the elevator.</p>
    <p>"Ms. Cook?"</p>
    <p>"Ronnie. Please."</p>
    <p>"I appreciate what you've done for Kate..."</p>
    <p>"I haven't done anything."</p>
    <p>"You've become a friend. This... time with the play. She hasn't had her friends to talk to."</p>
    <p>"She mentioned a friend, Nancy, who died?"</p>
    <p>"Did she?" Tim seemed surprised. "It was last year. She hasn't really had anyone that close since."</p>
    <p>"And you think she's decided I'm a friend?"</p>
    <p>Again he nodded. "She hasn't been nearly this relaxed in weeks."</p>
    <p>If Kate's turmoil over her attraction to Ronnie appeared as relaxation to Tim, Ronnie wondered exactly what other stresses Kate had been dealing with lately. Stresses she was hiding from Tim. Stresses which might have led a lonely woman to seek out a commiserating soul.</p>
    <p>"She likes you," he finished.</p>
    <p>Ronnie offered truthfully, "I like her too."</p>
    <p>When the elevator arrived Kate was lost in thought still trying to decipher all she, Ronnie, and Tim had covered through the evening of conversation. That made her look back to see Tim talking to Ronnie.</p>
    <p>Curiosity prodded her back to Tim's side. "Ready to go?" she asked, walking up behind Tim and then edging around to smile at Ronnie. She still wished she had more time but Ronnie had seemed quite firm in her refusal.</p>
    <p>However, Ronnie's eyes held the same gentle regard which had startled Kate into taking more than casual notice of the blonde in the very first autograph line where they had met. It was a 'see through to your soul' almost physical touch. <em>God, I am going to miss her</em>.</p>
    <p>Tim smiled at Kate. "I now understand the phrase 'fast friends'," he said. "Maybe when we're in town again we can call on you?"</p>
    <p>Kate smiled; her husband might just get a number. They wouldn't have to lose contact. "I'd have to agree."</p>
    <p>When she spoke Kate saw that her voice had an impact on Ronnie; desire flared in the blonde's eyes. Ronnie swallowed. Kate's chest filled with lightness. Lost briefly in the aftermath of Ronnie's denial of any future contact between them, Kate's heart once again filled with hope.</p>
    <p>Ronnie paused, not sure what to do. If she gave her number, Kate would probably call. If she didn't, Tim would wonder why. Pinned between the choices, Ronnie retreated briefly to her desk, picking up a school business card. Tim nodded as she handed it to him. Kate frowned when she took it from Tim's fingers, reading the number and address for the school, rather than her home. I can't, Ronnie implored with her gaze.</p>
    <p>I wish you would, Kate's gaze seemed to speak back to her.</p>
    <p>Ronnie remained at the door until Kate and Tim were out of sight safely in the elevator. Unable to help herself, Ronnie went to her front window, overlooking the sidewalk and the street. Pulling aside the curtain she looked down to see Tim hailing a taxi. Kate looked up, and Ronnie was caught watching. Even at the height of more than thirty feet, Kate's expressive face communicated longing. Quickly Ronnie pulled away, unable to watch the couple actually ride away.Out of her life.</p>
    <p><em>I did the right thing</em>, she thought. However, conscience was a cold blanket as Ronnie undressed and fell into bed unable to stop tears from wetting her pillow.</p>
    <p> </p>
    <p>
      <strong>Part 14</strong>
    </p>
    <p>Bless his ignorant soul Tim thought exhaustion caused Kate's quiet pensiveness. However, she lay on her back in the bed beside him for hours. Talking, or trying to talk sense to herself. She had been angry in the car, pissed at Ronnie for rejecting her.</p>
    <p>As she had readied for bed, seeing Tim changing beside her, Kate faced a different dilemma: How could you throw yourself at someone like that?</p>
    <p><em>I threw?</em> She kissed <em>me</em>.</p>
    <p>
      <em>You led her on.</em>
    </p>
    <p>Kate felt the impact of that like the heavy gavel of a judiciary decree. <em>Did I?</em></p>
    <p>She looked at the shadowed form of Tim beside her. <em>I did that to you?</em></p>
    <p><em>Yeah, you did</em>. She recalled seeking out Ronnie's touch when they stood out on the blond's balcony, looking at the city lights. She had done it quietly, her back to the blonde, unable to meet her eyes to face what she was doing honestly. But the instant the woman's fingers slid over her shoulders, and her heart skipped a beat...</p>
    <p>The same way Kate's heart had skipped when their eyes met as they talked... just sitting beside Ronnie in the taxi had felt so perfect. Every nuance of Ronnie's face, her expressions, the words she used so sparingly. Kate felt her chest constrict with joy at the merest recall.</p>
    <p>Finally she pushed herself out from the warm covers as the clock's liquid crystal display altered to four in the morning. She didn't deserve to be in bed with her husband, while thinking uncontrollably about someone else.</p>
    <p>Not just someone else. A woman. <em>A woman you hardly know, and yet...</em> Wrapped in her robe, Kate hugged the sides of it close to her throat and leaned against the wall by the balcony window. With her mind drifting inward, she looked out on the silent, dark night. Her reflection in the glass revealed her unhappiness.</p>
    <p>
      <em>I wanted her.</em>
    </p>
    <p><em>I can't have her</em>.</p>
    <p><em>But I still want her</em>.</p>
    <p>Golden and gracious, and open, Ronnie Cook had swept into Kate's life with astonishing, and captivating power. Even now the memory of her nearness, the feel of soft skin under her fingers, the scent of <em>Casmere</em>, set Kate's heart racing.</p>
    <p>She had risked discovery in a public bathroom for want of the caresses from full lips. She had courted the touch of soft hands within feet of her husband.</p>
    <p>Then impossibly, though she had felt the answering pulse in Ronnie's body, the blond had turned her away.</p>
    <p>Rejection.</p>
    <p>Complete and utter wretchedness filled Kate's chest, choking her heart's beat to a listless thud, a desiccating muscle. Hot, thick tears burned down her cheeks. She pressed her fists to her eyes to stem the flow fruitlessly.</p>
    <p><em>I should never have come to Boston</em>.</p>
    <p>She hated the play in that instant. For bringing her here. A place she had never been.</p>
    <p>To encounter a love she could never have.</p>
    <p><em>Why here? Why now?</em> She even wondered how. Never before that first imagining, before that first touch of their hands as she helped the woman to her feet at the stage... never had she tingled at the mere sight of a woman's smile.</p>
    <p>Kate covered her face with her hands. <em>God, had it really been that early in their meeting?</em> She had never been that abandoned to herself. Ever. Once discovered though, now she could not let the feelings go. She could not relegate Ronnie's touch to her past, tucked away in the zone of memory. She still craved it, felt its brand, hot and steaming, scored forever on her soul.</p>
    <p>Tim rolled over in his sleep, softly grunting as he resettled, unaware she had left his side.</p>
    <p>
      <em>Why do I have to be married to you?</em>
    </p>
    <p><em>Dear God</em>, she begged, immediately crossing herself. <em>Am I insane? Tim had been everything kind, ten years of friendship, comfortable</em>.</p>
    <p>But the thought had been born. The taste of another rendering her drunk with pleasure. A pleasure she found so uncommon as to feel that it had never existed before in her experience.</p>
    <p><em>I'm not just desiring Ronnie physically</em>, Kate thought, <em>I'm in love with her</em>.</p>
    <p><em>Like I have never been in love with another soul, ever</em>.</p>
    <p>
      <em>How could she just let me walk away like that?</em>
    </p>
    <p>Kate pressed her forehead to the cold glass, hot tears staining it and steaming. The iciness seeped to her bones giving her a headache. She welcomed the pain and pressed harder into it still.</p>
    <p>In her mind's eye, she froze slowly, hardening layer by layer. Her fingers turned blue, her face, her lips. Ice formed a shell around her heart.</p>
    <p>Imploding from the pressure, she shattered, alone in the darkness of the night.</p>
    <p># # #</p>
    <p>"Kate, honey?"</p>
    <p>She jerked awake at the touch of a hand on her shoulder. The sudden movement sent a torturous ache through her neck, and down her spine. She grimaced.<br/>Sometime during the night, she had settled to a chair at the small hotel table, and hunched over resting her head on the table surface. Turning her head now slowly, she found Tim standing over her. She grunted some sound of acknowledgment. She tried not to jump away as his cool, rough fingers brushed her forehead and cheek. Her eyes still burned from her tears, and her cheeks felt parched as he touched them.</p>
    <p>"You're burning up," he said. Gripping her arms despite her protests he coaxed her to the bed. "I'll get some water."</p>
    <p>Kate knelt at the bedside penitently and looked up through dulled eyes at Tim as he spoke to her.</p>
    <p>"Here's some aspirin. Take them. Come on. Back into bed." Kate's hands and body moved stiffly. He tucked her in. "How long have you been out of bed?" he asked.</p>
    <p>"What time is it?" she asked, when her parched throat was wet again.</p>
    <p>"It's after ten," he said. "Matt's call woke me up."</p>
    <p>"Matt?"</p>
    <p>"Yes. Something about rehearsing with Paula Ewin?"</p>
    <p>Kate blinked. "I have to rehearse," she said hollowly. God, I'm exhausted. She moved her legs from beneath the covers, shivering when Tim grasped her calf.</p>
    <p>Her husband shook his head and tucked her feet back up. "I don't think so. I'm calling you in sick." His hand brushed her forehead again. "I think we stayed out in the cold too long last night at your friend's apartment."</p>
    <p>"Cold?" she asked not connecting it with herself feeling terribly too warm at the moment. Then suddenly she was... icy cold. Reflexively she burrowed deeper beneath the covers. She heard the clatter as Tim picked up the phone, the tap-beeps as he entered the number, and his voice as he mercifully canceled her entire day.</p>
    <p>"Julianne," he said, "Kate seems to have caught a bug last night. She's feverish this morning." He paused. "I'm keeping her in bed."</p>
    <p>Julianne is just going to love that, Kate thought wearily. But realizing she did not care very much at that moment, she sent a perfunctory wish toward her understudy: break a leg.</p>
    <p>Tim set the receiver down with a click. The mattress sank as he sat down next to her, his hand finding her shoulder. "They're going to put Paula on. Matt and Julianne however add that they hope you get well soon."</p>
    <p>Kate hunched in on herself as Tim bent forward and kissed her forehead.</p>
    <p>"Get some sleep," he said.</p>
    <p># # #</p>
    <p>"Misery loves company."</p>
    <p>Ronnie Cook looked up from picking through her Kung Po chicken leftovers, which she had grabbed from her refrigerator after oversleeping that morning. Danny Hanson, a blond teacher with a face that didn't look much older than that of his students, leaned over her. "What?"</p>
    <p>"What's wrong? You look like you hope the food's poisoned."</p>
    <p>"Just tired." With effort she pushed her hair from her face and sat up a little straighter. Danny apparently took that as a sign she wanted to talk, and sat down right next to her.</p>
    <p>"Late night?" he asked with a smile.</p>
    <p>"I took 30 kids on a field trip yesterday, with Lipschultz," she said truthfully. However, she hoped he would consider that tiring enough. She would never tell anyone about her evening activities after the kids were sent home.</p>
    <p>She still could not believe how close she had come to committing adultery. Her breath caught on the memory of how willing Kate had been, how amazing the mutual desire had tasted.</p>
    <p>Ronnie groaned, recalling the flavors she had sampled. Sampled, not savored. Revered. And yet ultimately, rejected.</p>
    <p>Albeit gorgeous, hauntingly vulnerable, devastatingly sexy, Kate Mulgrew was a married woman. Also it crossed Ronnie's mind: What if someone had<br/>recognized them in the restaurant?</p>
    <p>Kate was not just a private woman, for whom an affair would be merely an embarrassing private revelation, but a star, internationally known, acclaimed. Ronnie could almost envision the headline on The Boston Globe: Star Strikes Set and Marriage, Runs off into sunset with local teacher.</p>
    <p>Yet the knowledge of what might happen to Kate did nothing to stem the flow of Ronnie's desire. Despite crying during the night until she was too exhausted to move, and hoarse besides, Ronnie lay hugging blankets and pillows too aware, too sensitized to the fact that they were not the vital woman she truly wanted.</p>
    <p>"Ronnie?" Danny pried curiously as she had remained silent.</p>
    <p>"Oh. It's nothing. I have to go..." Splash water on my face and cool off.</p>
    <p>Once again Ronnie's body temperature was rising in response to the images floating across her mind of Kate, reclined on one of the stage sofas, her come-hither eyes grabbing Ronnie viscerally, and darkening to stormy blue...</p>
    <p>
      <em>Kate's husky voice begged, "Take me..."</em>
      <br/>
      <br/>
      <em>"Come." The woman's husky voice would not release her. Ronnie groaned.  "Take me."</em>
      <br/>
      <br/>
      <em>"Come on." There was an insistent hand on her arm.</em>
    </p>
    <p>Ronnie jerked awake in alarm from the imagined touch of Kate's fingers, and woke from the drifting landscape of her mind, to see Danny's puzzled expression. In the background she heard the noise of the students rustling like cattle in the hallways.</p>
    <p>"Time to get back to the kids," Danny said.</p>
    <p>"Yeah. I... Right." God, Ronnie, you are never going to forget Kate at this rate, she scolded herself. Forcefully she pushed to her feet, and followed Danny out of the teachers lounge.</p>
    <p>Another part of her conscience, rebellious and unrepentant, having adored every moment, every touch, almost eidetically recalling every word, hissed, Good.</p>
    <p>That voice lay silent for all of fifth period. Ronnie kept to business with the ninth grade remedial students, filling her head and theirs with visions of diagrammed sentences for forty minutes. She exhaled at the sound of the bell, and escaped to the restroom.</p>
    <p>Which quickly proved not to be the haven she had counted on. She studied the sinks, and mirrors as she waited for one of the stalls to free up.</p>
    <p>Her groin pulsed, her face heated, and her hands shook with the memory of the whole episode with Kate in the restaurant's ladies room. She was outside herself, watching the whole wanton contact.</p>
    <p>Quickly she splashed water on her face, keeping her eyes away from the mirror, and watching the water swirl away down the drain. The passion throbbing within her however did not flow away as easily.</p>
    <p>"Hey, Ronnie, are you all right?"</p>
    <p>Ronnie spun to meet Marylin Sudor coming out of a stall. The petite dark-skinned woman watched her uncertainly. Without a word, Ronnie shut herself in the now empty stall, latching the door as if to keep the lust, like a pack of wolves, from consuming her.</p>
    <p><em>I should never have let her go</em>.</p>
    <p>
      <em>I had to, her husband...</em>
    </p>
    <p><em>Damn her husband</em>.</p>
    <p>Ronnie blinked at the vehemence of her thoughts.</p>
    <p>It's a good thing "Tea at Five" finishes Sunday. She'll leave town and life will be...</p>
    <p><em>Horrible</em>.<br/><br/><em>Fuck</em>. Ronnie absolutely hated arguing with herself. There was never a winner. She covered her face at the sound of the tardy bell.</p>
    <p>A warning of punishment.</p>
    <p>Yet her body still burned with desire for the forbidden touch.</p>
    <p>It took her several minutes to compose herself, forcibly reducing the fire to a flicker by constantly dumping thoughts of propriety, and responsibility on the flames. At last she emerged from the bathroom to face her sixth period class.</p>
    <p>Though, as she looked at the faces of students who had attended the play the day before, she thought Maybe I should have just stayed in bed.</p>
    <p>Her stomach turned over as a student's hand shot into the air.</p>
    <p>Exhaling for calm, Ronnie crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the front of her desk.</p>
    <p>Finally she uncrossed her arms, bracing each to either side of her hips against the desk. She nodded to the patient girl. "Yes, Maggie?"</p>
    <p>"I just wanted to say thanks for the trip yesterday. I learned a lot."</p>
    <p>"Brown-noser," mumbled Brian next to her.</p>
    <p>"But it really was a good play," Maggie said.</p>
    <p>"Yes, it was." Ronnie exhaled. "Why don't we talk about it... Monday. Give ourselves a chance to digest it?"</p>
    <p>"No quiz?" Brian asked.</p>
    <p>"No quiz."</p>
    <p>"All right."</p>
    <p>Ronnie looked at her desk surface and found the class's textbook. Picking it up, she tried to remember what unit they were working on. Flipping through pages she stopped on page 198. "Let's discuss the author as a voice for social change. John Steinbeck received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1962, as much for his novels, which illustrated the state of society, but also for his essays on social condition. Page 198, please."</p>
    <p>Under the students clatter as they retrieved their textbooks, Ronnie forced away the last of her thoughts of Kate.</p>
    <p>Following the dismissal bell, Ronnie settled behind her desk, sitting to organize her papers before leaving for home, only to find Melissa Block standing in the doorway. "Melissa?"</p>
    <p>"Ms. Cook, I... need a favor."</p>
    <p>"What can I do for you?"</p>
    <p>"Can you give me a lift to the theater from yesterday? I left my bag under my seat. I didn't even realize it until I got home."</p>
    <p>"You left your purse?"</p>
    <p>"No, it was a bag of things I was supposed to be working on for Student Council."</p>
    <p>"Oh." Ronnie frowned. "You don't have any other ride?"</p>
    <p>"I could take the bus, but that'll take forever."</p>
    <p>"True," Ronnie allowed.</p>
    <p>"Please?"</p>
    <p>It was completely in the opposite direction of her apartment. Kate was likely already there readying for tonight's performance.</p>
    <p>Her student begged. "Please, Ms. Cook. Just drop me off. I'll take a bus home from there. You can just drop me off."</p>
    <p>Ronnie inhaled slowly. "All right, I'll just drop you off."</p>
    <p> </p>
    <p><strong>Part 15</strong><br/><br/>Ronnie sighed inwardly as she turned her car into the theater parking lot. The way Maggie went on and on about the play, and Mulgrew was wearing her down. The way she talked, Ronnie began wondering if the girl had left the bag on purpose, just to torture someone into bringing her back here.</p>
    <p>Maggie was still talking nonstop, commenting on everything.</p>
    <p>Setting her car in park, Ronnie gripped the wheel and turned to interrupt Maggie's current one-sided discussion of the Act One staging - the girl had noticed a photograph in a frame on a side table which didn't look like any picture she had ever seen of Hepburn's family. "I bet it's hers, y'know?"</p>
    <p>"All right," Ronnie interrupted. "Here we --."</p>
    <p>Maggie, who was looking around suddenly noticed something and interrupted herself with a squeal. "What's going on there?" The girl was suddenly pushing at the passenger door to let herself out. Finally she tripped the latch, emerging from Ronnie's car.</p>
    <p>Ronnie reached after her, missing the arm she had aimed for. "Damn." She stepped out of her car, grasping the frame as she shouted after the girl, "Maggie!"</p>
    <p>Maggie turned and gave her a wave. "Thanks, Ms. Cook!" then dashed into the midst of a crowd of people around the entrance.</p>
    <p>Ronnie wondered what had caught everyone's attention then told herself it was Kate, of course, and she should just get back in her car and drive away.</p>
    <p>However, her body disobeyed, remaining rooted in place watching the crowd slowly breaking up.</p>
    <p><em>Just one look</em>, her eyes begged her brain.</p>
    <p>But Kate, it seemed, had not been the central attraction. A woman Ronnie did not recognize stood at the theater's sign, closing the glass cover.</p>
    <p>Someone walking past Ronnie grumbled to their companion, "I can't believe it. Sixty bucks and the understudy's going on?"</p>
    <p><em>Understudy?</em> Ronnie had been unaware there was even another person who backed up Kate in her performance. On the heels of that she worried What<br/>would keep Kate away from her work?</p>
    <p>
      <em>Was she sick?</em>
    </p>
    <p>
      <em>Had she been in an accident on the way back to her hotel last night?</em>
    </p>
    <p>Ronnie's thoughts propelled her forward, to the entrance where Maggie, looking completely dejected, talked with the woman who had worked on the sign, which Ronnie now read: "Paula Ewan?"</p>
    <p>"Yes, ma'am," answered the woman tiredly. "I was just explaining --"</p>
    <p>Ronnie pinned her with a hard look. "What's wrong with Ka - Ms. Mulgrew?"</p>
    <p>"Her husband called us this morning. She's taken ill."</p>
    <p>"I don't understand," Maggie said. "She seemed fine yesterday."</p>
    <p>"You were here yesterday?" The woman looked between Maggie and Ronnie.</p>
    <p>Ronnie nodded. "I brought my class to see the play."</p>
    <p>The woman relaxed then. "Thank goodness you're not asking for a refund." She paused. "Paula's quite good, you know."</p>
    <p>Ronnie wanted to get back to the subject of Kate. "I'm sure she is." She looked at Maggie, unwilling to directly ask about Kate, certain her voice would betray her emotions.</p>
    <p>Maggie seemed to take the look as a prompt to speak. "Ms. Cook just brought me by. I left some stuff here."</p>
    <p>"The lost and found is in the office," the woman said, pulling open the door. "Second door on your right."</p>
    <p>Decidedly subdued, Maggie entered the theater.</p>
    <p>"Ms. Cook?" The woman asked, still holding the door.</p>
    <p>"Ronnie, please." Maggie was gone. Stepping in and stopping close to the woman, Ronnie asked earnestly, "Are you sure it's just a cold or something?"</p>
    <p>"Ms. Cook, I can't really be discussing this with you."</p>
    <p>"Please?" Ronnie asked.</p>
    <p>A male voice interjected, "Ms. Cook?"</p>
    <p>Ronnie spun to see Matthew Lombardo stepping out of the men's room. "Mr. Lombardo," she said, startled.</p>
    <p>"Hi," he smiled at her. "Come by to see Kate? She's under the weather tonight so we're putting Paula, her understudy through her paces. Wanna see it?"</p>
    <p>"Matt?" Julianne questioned.</p>
    <p>"Ms. Cook's a teacher locally. Kate and Tim had her to dine with them last night," he explained. "Come on, Ronnie. I'll show you how rehearsals look."</p>
    <p>Ronnie shook her head. "I can't. I... Has anyone been over to see if she's all right?"</p>
    <p>Matt shook his head. "She'll be fine by tomorrow. If you want to though, Julianne can give you the number and you can call her.</p>
    <p>Maggie, with her duffel bag recovered, emerged from the office into the collection of adults. "What's up?"</p>
    <p>"Hello," said Matthew.</p>
    <p>"Hi, Mr. Lombardo, what's going on?"</p>
    <p>"Nothing much." Ronnie refused to discuss Kate in front of her student. She opened the theater door wide and told Maggie, "You'd better go."</p>
    <p>"All right. Tell Ms. Mulgrew I said hi. See you tomorrow at school." The girl walked out of the parking lot, and down to the curb to the bus stop, sitting on the bench.</p>
    <p>Julianne turned warily away from Ronnie, who remained inside the doorway, studying her hand on the panic bar. "Matt, do you know this woman?"</p>
    <p>"Yes, she, Tim, and Kate had dinner together last night. I saw them talking in the dressing room." He shook Ronnie's hand. "It was nice talking with you yesterday," he told Ronnie.</p>
    <p>Julianne was still nonplussed. "You're a schoolteacher though?"</p>
    <p>"We did only meet recently, but we were... having a long discussion. I could just... confirm it over the phone?" She really felt the need to hear Kate's voice, to understand that the woman would be fine.</p>
    <p>"If you're going over there, would you take something with you?"</p>
    <p>"I was just going to call," Ronnie stuttered a little as Julianne turned away and retrieved a stack of notes from inside the office. Abruptly, the stack was stuffed in her hand -- phone messages primarily. Ronnie noted the top piece contained Kate's hotel and phone information.</p>
    <p>"Her husband didn't stop by, and they're starting to stack up."</p>
    <p>Not seeing a way out graciously, Ronnie finally nodded, "All right."</p>
    <p>"Great." Without another word, Julianne left Ronnie, clearly expecting the "mission" to be carried out.</p>
    <p>Now there's someone used to delegating, Ronnie thought. God, how do I get myself into these things?</p>
    <p>Steven Harper, her principal at Winslow High School, also frequently asked her to do odd tasks and then simply left her to find a way to complete them.</p>
    <p>However, as she stared at the hotel information, she lamented. This was anything but handling the odd after school detention. On the one hand she could say she did want to see Kate, to be sure the other woman was all right, or would be quickly. On the other hand, Ronnie was scared to death that Kate would not want to see her.</p>
    <p>She had not missed the flash of anger which rose amidst the pain in Kate's eyes as she and Tim had finally left Ronnie's apartment. Resigned to the fact that she would soon find out, Ronnie returned to her car, and headed for the Cambridge Arms hotel.</p>
    <p># # #</p>
    <p>Room service had just left with the remains of a simple, and early dinner of soup and salad. However, Kate had found herself only half-hearted in the effort to eat. About an hour after Tim had left. She had coaxed him to take one of the walking tours. Wanting to be alone, Kate acknowledged she was more than simply sick.</p>
    <p>Oh, her fever was real. Standing out in a cold night barely covered qualified as foolhardy. However, she was definitely more sick at heart.</p>
    <p>Not a single minute had passed without Ronnie Cook settling comfortably in the recesses, and forefront of Kate's mind. Filling her heart, and pushing everything else aside. It was both crazy, and exhilarating.</p>
    <p>Kate felt like a child watching the night sky after a fireworks display had concluded: too quiet, too empty, and wishing it wasn't over.</p>
    <p>There was a knock at the door. Knowing Tim could let himself in, but shouldn't be back so soon, Kate wondered if Julianne had sent someone over, or come herself to see how she fared.</p>
    <p>A glance at the clock showed it was nearly four in the afternoon. Was Paula unable to go on? If things were calm at the theater wouldn't Julianne be up to her elbows in the pre-show work?</p>
    <p>Kate pushed herself out of the chair where she sat looking out over the city. She had not showered, or dressed, remaining in her robe on which she now tightened the sash. "Just a minute," she called, stepping in front of the mirror.</p>
    <p>After splashing cool water on her cheeks, she pulled her brush through her hair. Still holding the brush, she opened the door.</p>
    <p>Ronnie had turned away, her fear getting the better of her at the sound of Kate's call coming through the door. At the sound of the latch turning, she froze in place, unable to keep walking and yet, unable to turn around either.</p>
    <p>Kate recognized the profiled figure instantly, and struggled for something to say as she was suddenly flooded with several conflicting emotions. She could not settle on one. She went weak in the knees from the overwhelming effort of preventing herself from running into the hallway, and sagged against the door frame.</p>
    <p>Out of the corner of her eye, Ronnie saw the other woman sag. She moved so fast she didn't have time to think. Suddenly Kate was supported by Ronnie's arms, small hands restively flexing on Ronnie's biceps, and auburn head falling softly against Ronnie's chest. The heat was stunning where Kate's forehead rested against the bare skin of her throat.</p>
    <p>"Ronnie." Kate's breath warmed the underside of Ronnie's chin.</p>
    <p>"You're burning up," Ronnie murmured into auburn hair. "Come, let's get you back to bed."</p>
    <p>She guided the woman back inside the hotel room, kicking the door shut with her foot. Taking in the layout quickly she turned to the bed. She released her hold gingerly on Kate, sliding her hands away from the woman's waist. As Kate sank to the mattress, Ronnie settled as well, to her knees on the floor between Kate's feet. Her hands slid over the cotton robe, covering Kate's hands in her lap.</p>
    <p>Kate's face remained down-turned, watching, and feeling Ronnie's hands on her own. She imagined them moving to other body parts. Her skin flushed with the heat of need.</p>
    <p>"Are you all right?" Ronnie asked.</p>
    <p>Kate's voice was brittle when she spoke. "Why are you here?"</p>
    <p>Ronnie could hear the battle between fear, and anger waging in the other woman's husky voice. There were several things she could have answered. Each would have reasserted the logical, reasonable, moral distance between herself and Kate. However, the irrefutable energy she had felt from the beginning in their contact blotted them all out, leaving her with only one, scary emotional truth.</p>
    <p>She lifted her eyes from their linked hands and sought Kate's gaze, spying the signs of a poor night's sleep, the faint hollowing, and sallow color under the stain of a fever on Kate's cheeks. Reverently she lifted her left hand and cupped the woman's right cheek. "Because you are."</p>
    <p>The words flowed over Kate. She closed her eyes, feeling them, savoring them. Tears slipped silently from beneath her closed lids. Ronnie's thumb brushed them away. Then she felt the other woman rise before her, before the mattress shifted under new weight. She turned toward it.</p>
    <p>Ronnie's arms went around her shoulders, and Kate settled into the generous chest. The blond's voice blew gently over Kate's ears. "I went to the theater. I hadn't intended to," Ronnie said. "Maggie forgot her bag."</p>
    <p>Kate asked softly, wanting to know who to thank for bringing Ronnie back to her. "Who's Maggie?"</p>
    <p>"A student. She... I tried not to think about you. I... We... found out about the understudy."</p>
    <p>"Paula," Kate supplied.</p>
    <p>"Paula," Ronnie confirmed. "I... couldn't imagine what would keep you from performing. Then... Julianne said you were ill."</p>
    <p>"I've performed ill before," Kate said.</p>
    <p>"I... knew that... somehow." Ronnie lifted her head away from Kate's, finding blue eyes once again. "Why not today?"</p>
    <p>"Nothing... mattered. I... just couldn't. It... I... felt... all wrong."</p>
    <p>Ronnie glanced down to Kate's profiled face, which the woman had turned away to hide the vulnerability she felt from the admission. "You... turned my world upside down too," she told her. "I'm used to... games." She exhaled, finding it so easy to circle her fingers over Kate's shoulder as she still cradled it in her palm. "This... feels so serious. It... scares me."</p>
    <p>"I've never felt anything like this," Kate replied, becoming aware of the continued intimacy of their bodies' contact. She moved her hand from Ronnie's lap, up onto the woman's stomach, and felt the muscles quivering. "What scares me," she whispered, lifting her chin to find Ronnie's lips. "What scares me is letting you go." Her final words blew soft heat across Ronnie's mouth.</p>
    <p>"I'm not strong enough to let you go twice," came the reply.</p>
    <p>Their mouths met, sinking together, breathing together. Kate reveled in the wild possession which followed. Ronnie's hands stroked through her hair. It was pure fantasy come real the way the blond woman not only quivered when Kate touched her, awed by the feel, and shape of her body. But Ronnie's appreciative touches, and sounds of sybaritic pleasure accompanied the revelation of each new patch of her own skin to the blond's hungry touch.</p>
    <p>Laying together on the bed, what she and Ronnie shared then was not merely sex. It was unlike any lovemaking Kate had ever known. A dance, but not slow and formal. More like rock and roll, a beat that made her feel energized, and exultant. She felt like shouting with the joy overflowing her heart.</p>
    <p>So she did, spurred by Ronnie's touches, over and over again.</p>
    <p> </p>
    <p>
      <strong>Part 16</strong>
    </p>
    <p>Ronnie exhaled and inhaled slowly, trying to catch her breath. Her mouth was absolutely dry; she mustered a swallow and wet her mouth and lips with her tongue.</p>
    <p>Her lips were immediately covered by other lips, soft and coaxing. She blinked and focused on her bedmate who smiled with an edge of cockiness at Ronnie's obvious disorientation.</p>
    <p>"Worn out?"</p>
    <p>"Wrung out," Ronnie corrected slightly, easing her hands over the delicate and beautifully curved body pressing against her own. "Just let me catch my breath."</p>
    <p>A muscular small leg slid over her own long leaner ones, parting them with a knee.</p>
    <p>Her breath did catch then, as Kate provocatively nudged her knee against Ronnie's heated, and overindulged center.</p>
    <p>"I can't believe I never did this sooner," Kate nuzzled Ronnie's ear as she whispered against her chek. "That was incredible."</p>
    <p>Ronnie could not think of anything to say. It had definitely been mind-blowing, she felt, literally. "I... um..."</p>
    <p>Kate's fingers gently cupped her chin, drawing Ronnie's gaze back since she had looked away. "Sweetheart?"</p>
    <p>Meeting Kate's eyes meant Ronnie caught sight of something beyond the other woman -- a man's shirt draped over a clothing rack. Tears gathered quickly. I can't be your sweetheart, she thought miserably.</p>
    <p><em>This is perfection. And I can't keep any of it</em>. Tears slid down her cheeks.</p>
    <p>"Ronnie?"</p>
    <p>"I'm sorry." Ronnie started to roll away from the other woman. "I shouldn't have..." She shook, doubling over, consumed by grief. "I'm sorry."</p>
    <p>"What? No! It was beautiful. You're beautiful." Kate cuddled her nakedness against Ronnie's back, wrapping her arm around Ronnie's chest, and holding her left bicep with tender restraint. She kissed the back of Ronnie's neck. "This was perfect."</p>
    <p>"Was it?" Ronnie asked with anguish. "I still want you."</p>
    <p>"I'm all yours," Kate murmured huskily, putting her hands on Ronnie's shoulders and nibbling below the woman's left ear.</p>
    <p>Trying to figure out how she, a generally sexually free spirit, could feel so miserable about this situation, Ronnie kept her eyes closed even as Kate escalated her intent to arouse them both.</p>
    <p>That made it easier to dwell on the good things: the sounds of her breathing, and Kate's. The soft moans of the other woman as pleasure continued softly rippling through the petite frame as Ronnie stroked her back with small circles. The satin feel of the warm skin under her fingertips. Scents filled her nose, the natural musks of their lovemaking, the faint scent of Ronnie's own baby powdered skin, the lavender scent of Kate's hair.</p>
    <p>She fingered the crispness of the sheet she had drawn up over their entwined bodies to ward off the chill as the light perspiration slowly evaporated from their skin.</p>
    <p>Kate moved slowly. Ronnie felt the woman's fingers tracing places on her body which sent flaming tendrils of desire to her own groin. The woman rose over her, and Ronnie opened her eyes. To see her dream smiling down upon her.</p>
    <p>"Better?" Kate's husky rumble rolled from merlot-shaded lips.</p>
    <p>Ronnie watched their movements, mesmerized, then lifted her head from the pillow, and indulging herself in the taste of them. Parting when Kate and she were both breathless, their passion resurgent, Ronnie searched the gaze inches away, trying to decide what Kate wanted her to say. She had left more beds than she had lingered because she had never quite said the 'right' thing.</p>
    <p>Reason and logic told her this was one bed she must leave.</p>
    <p>Yet, God help her, she didn't want to leave it. Her indecision must have shown in her eyes, Ronnie realized, as Kate lowered her body and settled on the mattress away from Ronnie's body.</p>
    <p>"Don't go," Ronnie urged quietly.</p>
    <p>"You're already leaving," Kate replied, sounding a soft note of hurt as she lay her head against the other pillow.</p>
    <p>Ronnie lay down on the mattress and rolled onto her side, facing Kate. The other woman had pulled her hands under her cheek, an arm compressing her breasts as she hugged herself tightly.</p>
    <p>Reaching over, never breaking eye contact between them, Ronnie adjusted the sheet, fingering the cotton, so aware it was not soft skin. "For the first time, reality really is an intrusion. I don't want to go. I have to go."</p>
    <p>"Do... do you regret what we've done?"</p>
    <p>Ronnie raised up, supporting herself on an elbow, looking over Kate as the woman turned onto her back. Regret?</p>
    <p>Her eyes lingered over where Kate's pulse ticked nervously in her throat; reverently she touched where she had tasted the salt-sweet skin there just below Kate's ear. She licked her lips again, and shook her head. What she felt was not regret.</p>
    <p>Her gaze slid away to the gently rising and falling chest. Ronnie's fingers tingled in memory of the rounded flesh of Kate's breasts shifting in her hand. The way the broad fleshy nub stiffened first against her palm, then the sweet sensations as it had hardened still more, in her mouth as she plied it with her tongue.</p>
    <p>The echoes of Kate's cries of fulfillment filled her ears. Ronnie stroked the lightly freckled skin over Kate's breastbone and shook her head again. Stroking down the woman's left shoulder, and finding her fingers, interlacing them with her own, she found a stiff band obstructing their total clasp. Sadly she looked at it, then back up at Kate's face. "No," she began. Lifting the fingers between their locked gazes, she shook her head. "I can't regret knowing the sweetness of making love to you.</p>
    <p>"I regret that you are not mine to make love with tomorrow."</p>
    <p>She released Kate's grip, kissed each finger as tears gathered in both their eyes, and withdrew from the bed. Breathing deeply, she kept the tears from leaking onto her cheeks only by the slimmest margin of control. Continuing to avert her eyes, Ronnie searched out her clothing from the array on the floor.</p>
    <p>Kate sat up slowly, watching with the pain in her heart growing, as Ronnie moved around the bed. Irrationally she too began hunting for a piece of the blond's clothing -- not to help her dress, to shut off the woman's body from her sight, but to keep it.</p>
    <p>To bargain, and keep Ronnie here.</p>
    <p>"Stop!" she urged. At last her eyes spotted the woman's underwear, half tucked out of sight from Ronnie's position in the folds of the sheet. "Please. Don't go."</p>
    <p>Ronnie held out her hand for the scrap of cloth.</p>
    <p>Kate gripped the pale blue cotton pair of hi-cut briefs, and abandoned the bed herself. There's still a chance, she though, watching the way Ronnie backed up suddenly, eyes flitting over Kate's nudity as she advanced.</p>
    <p>She kept Ronnie riveted in place with her low voice. "Once was not enough," she said. "I thought perhaps it could be. Just a taste, just a touch..." She almost purred.</p>
    <p>The effect was startling: Ronnie's eyes started to close even before Kate reached her with a touch. She lifted the underwear to her face and inhaled. Ronnie's eyes stayed open, catching the wantonness of the action. "Just the scent of you... a woman.. The woman. My woman," Kate breathed now up against Ronnie, up against the wall.</p>
    <p>She inhaled again, her nose at Ronnie's throat. When she exhaled her breath caused Ronnie to sag against the wall. Kate held her up with her own body, their breasts pillowed together.</p>
    <p>Frustration and desire warred in Ronnie's gaze as the blond's head dropped to meet Kate's. Kate seized the opportunity, holding Ronnie's head in place as she pulled their mouths together.</p>
    <p>"I don't want you to 'do the right thing'," Kate growled against Ronnie's lips. "I want to do all the right things to you," she finished, enraptured by Ronnie's scent, and the helpless moan torn from the golden throat as she sank to her knees, hands skirting down taut abdomen muscles to shaking thighs.</p>
    <p>She kissed, and nibbled, all over Ronnie's stomach. A shirt dropped onto her shoulder as Ronnie's hand released it. Long fingers then flowed through her own hair, and low moans flowed over her ears as Kate encouraged Ronnie's essence to flow once again over her tongue.</p>
    <p>Ronnie was flush with exhaustion when Kate let her go. She sank against the wall, panting hard. Kate held out her hand. "Let's shower," the other woman said.</p>
    <p>In the shower the mutual soaping became another slow possession.</p>
    <p>Now, back in her robe, Kate reclined against Ronnie, who had finally reclaimed her underwear and redressed. Together they had settled on the small sofa. Their fingers lazily laced and unlaced.</p>
    <p>The time together they knew, grew shorter and shorter with each passing second. Ronnie should go, but Kate's melancholy as she resigned herself to the same knowledge kept Ronnie silent.</p>
    <p>Pushing Kate resulted in anger, and passion, and while Ronnie could live with the first, another dose of the second would have Ronnie unable to move at all.</p>
    <p>It was nearly seven, she realized with a glance at the clock. Tim certainly had to be returning any moment.</p>
    <p>She and Kate both startled at the sound of the door latch shifting and the tumblers in the lock aligning. Kate's fingers squeezed hers painfully, briefly, before she was quickly released. They were sitting up side by side when Tim entered the room.</p>
    <p>Turning around from closing the door, his gaze found them on the sofa. Ronnie's breath caught. He smiled at her. "Julianne told me you would have come by." To Kate he directed, "Your coloring looks better. How do you feel?"</p>
    <p>Before answering Kate cast a glance toward Ronnie. "Better," she said. "The chills from this morning are gone."</p>
    <p>"It's good you took the time off then." He leaned over, cupped Kate's chin, and kissed her cheek.</p>
    <p>Ronnie averted her eyes. When he stood again, their gazes met once more. "Now that you're back," she said quickly. "I can go."</p>
    <p>"Thank you for staying with her," Tim said.</p>
    <p>"My... pleasure," Ronnie replied, catching herself on the typical phrase as Kate's gaze intersected her own. Kate licked her lips, and Ronnie felt the jolt clear to her groin. She abandoned gazing on the auburn-haired woman, and turned quickly back to face Tim. "I should be going."</p>
    <p>She reached for her coat, laying over the back of a nearby chair. Tim grasped it. She froze.</p>
    <p>"Let me help you into it," he said when she cast a glance over her shoulder at him. His unreadable expression made her nervous. He did not relinquish the coat, and perversely she felt Kate and Tim were two of a kind, both very prepossessing, and stubborn. She dropped her head, and let him help her into the coat.</p>
    <p>The tugs were a little rough; Ronnie tucked her shaking hands inside her pockets until she had them back under control. She encountered the stack of notes Julianne had entrusted to her. Without explanation, Ronnie put them on a nearby table top, and walked out of the hotel room.</p>
    <p>Tim glanced at the stack of papers, and picked them up. Kate bit her lip. She watched him exhale. "If these are your messages, Kate..." He lifted his eyes to meet hers. "Why was Ronnie here?"</p>
    <p>Kate took the notes as Tim sat next to her. "We... got to talking," she said simply, eyes down as she looked over the various handwritten missives.</p>
    <p>"She's a good friend then." He lifted a short, damp curl from Kate's shoulder. "She got you out of bed, gave you hours of conversation. You took a shower..."</p>
    <p>His voice trailed off. Her hair moved again.</p>
    <p>"A hickey..."</p>
    <p>"What?" Kate pushed him away, and darted to the mirror. Pulling her hair aside for herself, she studied her skin in the mirror.</p>
    <p>Tim slowly came up behind her. She met his gaze in the reflecting glass. Caught, she dropped her hands to the counter, and dropped her gaze from his dour expression.</p>
    <p>"There's nothing there," she said quietly.</p>
    <p>"There's nothing there," he echoed.</p>
    <p>She backed away from the counter, putting her back against the wall. They regarded one another in silence for several minutes. "Are you...?" she finally began.</p>
    <p>"Oh, I'm definitely angry." She forced herself to keep her chin up as the anger rumbled through his voice. "I smelled the scent of sex the instant I entered the room. And Ronnie's hair was as wet as yours."</p>
    <p>Kate closed her eyes briefly, searching for the appropriate thing to say. "I'm sorry you found out this way." She accepted that she had done it; and realized she really was only sorry she had been caught.</p>
    <p>"I never expected something like this from you," he said. The chill in his voice seemingly dropped the room temperature ten degrees.</p>
    <p>"It... caught me unexpectedly too."</p>
    <p>Tim exhaled harshly and turned away from her. He spoke to the wall. "There's a part of me that doesn't want to behave so reasonably about this."</p>
    <p>She nodded, the feeling of discomfort fully converting to fear. "I... understand."</p>
    <p>"No, you don't." He turned back to her. "You disgraced our vows."</p>
    <p>"She's a woman."</p>
    <p>He said sharply, "My own sister's gay, Kate. You and I both know people in loving same-sex relationships. Are you in love with Ronnie?"</p>
    <p>"I... was caught off guard," she said with a wince as he glared at her. "I... felt... different."</p>
    <p>"Did she seduce you?"</p>
    <p>Kate shook her head. She had definitely done the seducing.</p>
    <p>"She's gone. Will she be back? Damn it," he cursed abruptly. "I need to know. Is it over?"</p>
    <p>She nodded with a grimace, unable to tell him right now that it wasn't over by her choice, but Ronnie's. If they talked about it again, maybe she would tell him. "It's over."</p>
    <p>Tim exhaled. "Then it was an aberration. You were experimenting. Nothing more." He shook his head and walked away from her sitting on the sofa. He bent over his knees, hands fumbling with papers, things, on the surface.</p>
    <p>The way he seemed to be distracting himself from violence made Kate feel there was a little breathing room. She let herself step away from the wall, and inhaled, walking toward him. "Tim..."</p>
    <p>"Will you be seeking her out again?" His fingers found a pencil she had used on the crossword puzzle in the newspaper the day before and snapped it.</p>
    <p>Kate jumped at the sound. Quickly she said, "Ronnie ended it today."</p>
    <p>"Are you heartbroken?"</p>
    <p>Kate exhaled and turned away. "Yes."</p>
    <p>Tim stood behind her and she steeled herself as she felt his presence come near. "If your tastes ran that way, why didn't you ever say something?"</p>
    <p>"I didn't know they do," she said.</p>
    <p>He cupped her shoulders. She stiffened. He massaged the muscles. "Kate, I want to be your husband. I need honesty though. Will this ever happen again?"</p>
    <p>Kate studied her reflection in the mirror. Any other women? she asked herself. She shook her head.</p>
    <p>She was sure that the only woman for her had just walked out of her life forever.</p>
    <p># # #</p>
    <p> </p>
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  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I can post the connected sequels if anyone is interested. A total of 5 were written in this alt 'verse and the general run-line is KM "awakening" to attraction to women.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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